Memories
by TheFrankMaster
Summary: A 16 year old Frisk returns to Mount Ebott with no memory of the events that happened in the Underground nine years ago. [Memories ep. 1]
1. Diary entry

**Frisk will be female in this story.**

 **Also, some major happenings in this story differ from what actually happens in the game.**

* * *

 **Memories**

 _Chapter one: Diary entry_

 _Frisk, the Human, is gone._

 _None of us can recall much of what happened yesterday; we all remember being restrained by a flower before everything went white. The next thing we know, we wake up near the Barrier with the Human's name somehow having been added to our knowledge. The Human herself, however, was nowhere to be found._

 _We have no clue as to where she currently is, but we believe that she has either passed the Barrier somehow, or – a far more saddening and shocking thought – is deceased. This experience has taught us all that uncertainty truly is more unpleasant than unpleasant certainty._

 _The Human Souls have disappeared as well, but we all believe that this is for the best. In addition, we have decided that any Humans who fall down here will be treated as friends, rather than enemies. While I doubt this will restore hope in the Underground quickly – or stop Papyrus from setting up puzzles for the Humans to solve – we can all agree that in spite of the lack of sunlight, we are happy down here._

 _We have all returned to our respective homes now._

 _Frisk. Wherever you are, please stay strong._

 _And I am truly sorry for putting you in danger during your time in the Underground._

 _Kind regards,_

 _Asgore Dreemurr._

* * *

 _Asriel has returned to us._

 _I had waited for a day at New Home before returning to the Ruins. When I did return, I had immediately gone to the flower bed in an attempt to take my mind off Frisk's disappearance. When I arrived, however, I noticed that someone was already busy taking care of the flowers._

 _Not knowing who it was, I decided to approach them about sneaking into my home. My words remained stuck in my throat when the culprit turned out to be a crying Asriel, which filled me with confusion, shock and glee._

 _The things he told me were equally shocking. He informed me that after he died, the experiments Alphys did on the flower in Asgore's garden resurrected him as a soulless being without the ability to feel love. Apparently, he and Frisk had had a battle which Frisk ended peacefully – after which she forgave him!_

 _In spite of my shock, I, of course, forgave Asriel, even though I do not blame him for anything the soulless flower did. However, in spite of my glee, the depression I felt when Frisk disappeared returned when Asriel told me he did not know where she was. While he recalled having a conversation with Frisk after the battle, he had little memory of where she was eventually sent to._

 _I wish there was something we could do about this._

 _For now, however, the only thing I can do is inform Asgore that our son is alive. While I still am unable to forgive him for his atrocities, he deserves to know about Asriel's resurrection. Perhaps, eventually, we could be a family again._


	2. Fallen down

**CupkakeGalore** and **Shimmer Shy:** _I'm glad you like it! Though, I hope I won't be disappointing you, but the previous chapter is the only one with such diary entries._

 **If I Could Begin to Be:** _I'm glad you find it interesting so far! Hey, just a wild guess, but your name doesn't happen to be W.D. Gaster, does it? Why am I asking? Oh, no reason…_

 **Updates will be weekly. I'll upload one chapter each Friday, Saturday or Sunday.**

* * *

 _Chapter two: Fallen down_

A sixteen year old Frisk woke up with a jolt.

Her brown hair was all over her face as she looked around in a fearful state, wildly moving her head left and right in an attempt to become familiar with her surroundings.

She calmed down quickly though, realizing that panic was only going to get her into even more stress, but her fear of the unknown continued to haunt her. The room she was currently in was dark, the only light source being a ray of illumination coming down from directly above her, making her visible to anything that could be hiding in the shadows around her.

It was only when Frisk fully sat up that she noticed the flower bed she was lying on. The flowers, along with being unusually soft, had a bright yellow/goldish color. Their peaceful appearance in the light almost made them seem friendly, but the Human girl didn't notice this. Instead, she stood up as quickly as she could – trying to ignore the rush of dizziness that followed – scowling at the flower bed in the process.

It was something she never could explain, but at one point in her life she came to dislike flowers a lot. She didn't recall ever having a bad experience with one though, and she never felt like investigating.

Ignoring the flowers for now, Frisk brushed her hair out of her face before trying to remember what happened before she lost consciousness.

 _…_

 _…_ _right_ , she thought. _I climbed that mountain – Mount Ebott was the name – tripped over…something…must've fallen down here_ , she concluded. _Down here, on this conveniently placed flower bed. I'm lucky to be alive._

She was removed from her thoughts when she heard a sound erupt from behind her, causing her to hastily but quietly whirled around and listened.

…

The sound was footsteps…coming closer.

The Human swore silently and decided that she couldn't take a risk: if whoever was coming her way had bad intentions, she was in some deep trouble. As a result, she had no choice but to hide in the shadows.

She stepped backwards, out of the light.

After taking a few steps, she felt a stone wall behind her. As a response, she began to walk to her left, as far away from that ray of illumination as possible.

She had just reached the corner of the room – which, unfortunately, was still kind of close to the ray – when the footsteps stopped. Frisk – who had reflexively taken a glance to her left as soon as she hit the wall – immediately looked back at the pillar of light to see a figure.

She couldn't make it out entirely: the figure was standing just outside the ray, making only some of its body visible. All Frisk could tell was that whoever was standing there was taller than her.

 _Please leave_ , the Human thought.

But the figure didn't leave. Instead, they kneeled down and began to water the flowers with a small watering can, revealing their arms to the light in the process.

Even that didn't help Frisk much with identifying this person: their arms and hands were covered in white sleeves and white fur gloves, respectively.

Wait…those gloves…

Why did those gloves have small claws?

And why did it look like they weren't gloves at all? Somehow, despite their furry appearance, it was as if they were part of this mysterious individual.

The Human quickly got her answer as the figure leaned forward into the light to water the flowers at the other side of the bed.

Frisk's eyes widened. She blinked to make sure they weren't playing tricks on her. She then closed them for a few seconds for the same reason, but it had little effect.

The figure who was watering the flowers appeared to be a woman. The white sleeves that covered her arms were part of a purple robe with some kind of symbol sewn on it. The woman's eyes were a dark red.

The thing that surprised Frisk was the woman's white fur, her long, droopy ears, the horns on her somewhat oddly shaped head and two fangs that found themselves among her teeth.

This woman didn't look Human. If anything, she looked like some kind of anthropomorphic goat.

Frisk's body was frozen. She just stood there in fear, looking at the…goat furry with disbelief. Despite her seeing it right then and there, she was still working on accepting it. And it was easy to tell that the goat woman wasn't someone wearing a suit; it was too real for that. The woman's face held real emotion, one a costume could never display. Her fur seemed too real. It simply couldn't be fake.

Frisk's eye twitched as she felt that she began to lose control of her breathing, which rapidly increased in speed. Unfortunately, despite her effort to stay quiet, she could not silence herself completely, and the process of air being taken and released by her lungs became gradually more audible.

 _Please leave_ , she continually repeated in her head. _Please leave, please leave, please—_

The goat woman suddenly looked up at the shadows in front of her. She blinked a few times before her gaze snapped towards Frisk's direction.

 _Crap_ , the Human thought. _She heard my breathing. Why, Frisk, why?_

Through extreme willpower, the Human managed to silence her breathing…but the damage had already been done.

The woman put the watering can next to her before rising to her feet, still looking in Frisk's direction.

It was silent for a few moments before she spoke in a soft, warm voice.

"Is someone there?"

Frisk thought it'd be best _not_ to reply.

A decision she almost came to regret, as something even more unexpected happened.

The woman put her hand in the air with her palm aiming upwards. Before Frisk had the chance to theorize as to why, a bright flame grew in the woman's hand, illuminating the rest of the room.

Frisk felt the light reach her face, and the woman was now looking her directly in the eyes.

"There you are," she said. Frisk didn't respond.

The woman put her other hand up, this time with the palm towards Frisk, in a calming manner.

"There is no need to be afraid," she assured as she took a step forward.

 _Yeah, that's really convincing for someone who's holding a fireball in their hand_ , the Human thought. Sweat began to itch on her head.

She then noticed something behind the woman: a hallway.

 _I can escape through there if I can get past her!_

The anthropomorphic goat took another step. "I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down."

 _Yeah, sure. So you can roast them alive with your fire magic and eat them._

"You are the first Human to come here in a long time," the woman – Toriel – continued.

 _'_ _Course. Just my luck._

The woman took another step.

 _Now or never!_

With an amazing speed, Frisk's legs came back into action, allowing her to run past Toriel and into the hallway.

* * *

There was no thinking, only running.

Frisk sprinted her way through a dark room with one patch of grass underneath yet another ray of light. Behind her, she could hear Toriel following and calling out, but in spite of her decent speed, the goat woman certainly wasn't as fast as the athletic – and fear-driven – Frisk.

However, not knowing the extent of Toriel's powers induced the Human with even more dread, which in turn motivated her to continue running and hope that she wouldn't have a fireball hurled at her.

She also had to hope that there were no traps on the path ahead; if there were, there'd be no way for her to escape. Not alive, at least.

Frisk ran out of the dark room, and was met with a much brighter one. It appeared far more welcoming than the previous two rooms, and maybe she'd have observed it better if she wasn't in such a hurry.

She swiftly climbed a set of stairs and went through the open doorway that followed.

The next room was rather peculiar: next to the path Frisk was on, six large gray objects – likely buttons – were resting on the ground, and a lever could be seen on the opposite wall. Next to the lever, there was a closed door.

 _Crap…please don't be a puzzle…_

Using her momentum, she threw herself against the door with all her might.

It didn't budge.

The Human swore and gave the door a strong kick to no avail.

She had no choice. She had to solve the puzzle, somehow. But what if she messed up?

 _Err…_ she thought, _what if I press all the buttons and pull the switch?_

She did just that, but the door remained shut.

 _What now?_

"Child?"

Frisk turned to the entrance of the room when she heard the voice to find Toriel standing in the doorway. The flame in her hand was gone, but that wasn't enough to stop the Human from backing up against the locked door.

The goat woman gave a guilty smile. "Heh…I suppose approaching you with fire in my hand was not my wisest decision. My apologies for that." She took a step into the room, but didn't advance on Frisk like she did before. "I do not wish to harm you, child. Please trust me."

Frisk remained silent.

Sensing the Human's fear, Toriel walked to the six buttons on the ground. She pressed four of them in a specific pattern and pulled the lever.

To Frisk's surprise, the door behind her opened, revealing what seemed to be more of a hallway, rather than a room. With a look on her face that matched her surprise, she looked back at Toriel, who was still smiling softly.

"Do you trust me now?" she asked.

Frisk hesitated. Did she? This woman could've killed her several times already, couldn't she? Or maybe she preferred to eat Humans fresh and was only waiting for them to arrive in the kitchen.

She shook that thought out of her head. _Don't you think that'd be a bit…I don't know…far-fetched?_

Either way, by saying no, she'd either disappoint an innocent lady or endanger herself even more.

"I…guess?" she said. The doubt in her voice was very present, but Toriel seemed to be happy with the answer nonetheless, as her smile grew and she put her hands together.

"Excellent!" she exclaimed. "Now, allow me to guide you through the Ruins."

* * *

Throughout the Ruins, it became clear to Frisk that Toriel wasn't the only…nonhuman being that lived there. Along the way, they were greeted by frog-like creatures, flying ghost-shaped insect things, bipedal spheres with eyes, teeth and horns, carrots with faces, other bug beings, gelatinous piles of…gelatinous stuff and a somewhat quiet ghost. There was also a spider community, but Frisk only saw their webs and a bake sale.

 _'_ _Food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders'? That's disturbing._

After a short while, they arrived at what seemed to be a small house.

"Welcome to my house, young one," Toriel beamed. "Come on inside!"

During their walk, the goat woman had referred to Frisk as 'my child' or 'young one' or something along those lines several times. In most other cases, Frisk would've minded that, but this lady…when she used one of those nicknames, it sounded…comforting. Familiar, almost. It was as if Frisk had known Toriel for her entire life, and the goat lady still hadn't stopped calling the Human 'child'.

Almost like a mother…

"Welcome," Toriel repeated. "I hope you like it here."

The house was cozy. Besides the huge stairs at the other end of the room that led downwards, two other parts of the house were connected to the room they were currently in. To Frisk's right, a hallway with several doors could be seen. To her left, a doorway was visible with what seemed to be a living room behind it.

Suddenly, something happened in the Human's mind.

It felt like…remembrance?

 _"_ _Do you smell that?"_ Toriel's voice inexplicably echoed in her head. _"Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight."_

"Are you all right, my child?"

Frisk jumped and looked at the goat woman, who had taken a step closer towards her with a worried look on her face.

"Uh, yeah," she stuttered. "I-I just…" she paused, calming down a bit. "Guess I'm just…tired."

She didn't even have to lie. She was pretty tired.

 _Oh, come on!_ She reprimanded herself. _You just slept on a flower bed for who knows how long! How about you keep your lazy ass out of bed for more than just friggin' ten minutes!_

"Would you like to sleep?"

 _Don't even dare say yes…_ the Human warned herself.

"Yeah, actually…"

 _For goodness' sakes…I really am hopeless._

Toriel's smile returned. "Follow me," she said before walking to the hallway to Frisk's right. Frisk complied.

They stopped at the first door in the hallway they came across. Toriel pushed the door open, revealing a bedroom with red walls.

"You can sleep here," the woman said. "Make yourself comfortable."

Frisk walked in and examined the room.

Aside from the bed, there was not much that really drew her attention. It was your usual bedroom with two lamps, a wardrobe, some kind of cupboard with a photo frame on it and a drawing of a flower on the wall. There were also a few stuffed animals lying around.

"It may not be…entirely fitting for someone your age," Toriel said. "Most people who fall down here are younger."

"No, it's great," Frisk quickly assured.

 _You don't dare be honest with that nice old lady, do you?_ That voice in her head mockingly said. _The nice old lady who could set you on fire with but a wave of her hand._

The goat lady smiled again, obviously relieved. "I am glad. Now, it is time for you to get some sleep. But before that, I need to ask you…" she hesitated. "For no reason in particular, which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"

Upon hearing that, the same hypnotizing wave of recognition struck the Human with even greater force than before.

 _…_ _no reason in particular…cinnamon or butterscotch?_

 _Cinnamon or butterscotch?_

 _Cinnamon or-_

"Child?"

Frisk jumped again. "Uh, s-sorry…" she quickly apologized. "I…uh…I like both, but I prefer cinnamon."

Toriel – whose worried look had returned – gave a nod. "All right…and you do not have any allergies, do you?"

Frisk blinked. "No. Why?"

"No reason," Toriel said with an involuntary grin. "Now, you must be very tired, so I will no longer bother you with my questions. Good night, child." And with that, she closed the door.

Frisk sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands, recalling what had been happening just now.

It couldn't've been more than, what, twenty minutes since she woke up on the flower bed? And during those twenty minutes, she had made friends with an anthropomorphic goat lady, who had either given her a place to rest or was going to kill her in her sleep. Either way, the prospects of returning to the orphanage she lived in were slim, but given how shitty her life was there she didn't really care – unless everyone down here wanted to kill her, that was.

Also, she had been getting these…memories?

Toriel welcoming the Human to her home seemed familiar. And the cinnamon and butterscotch thing…

And the entire area…she hadn't noticed it at first, but it felt as if she had been there before. She even recognized some of the creatures she had seen. Most memories were very weak, as if they happened years ago.

She couldn't recall this place explicitly, though.

A sigh escaped her throat. _Well, better get some sleep. I'll have to think about this later._

The Human lay down on the bed after removing her shoes and closed her eyes.

 _Also, note to self: no more climbing mountains that are rumored to be cursed._

* * *

 **Text message**

 ** _Toriel:_** _Hello, Sans! How ya doin?_

 ** _Sans:_** _easy there tori_

 ** _Toriel:_** _L-O-L!_

 ** _Toriel:_** _There is something I must inform you of._

 ** _Sans:_** _is that so? r u going 2 bake more pies?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _I see you are doing all right._

 ** _Sans:_** _u see correctly_

 ** _Toriel:_** _A Human has fallen into the Ruins._

 ** _Sans:_** _really? been awhile since that happened_

 ** _Toriel:_** _She seems to be afraid._

 ** _Sans:_** _so its a girl_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Yes. Although I fear that I completely forgot to ask her name._

 ** _Sans:_** _what! shame on you_

 ** _Toriel:_** _I know._

 ** _Toriel:_** _Regardless, I thought it would be a wise idea to inform you in case she wishes to leave the Ruins._

 ** _Sans:_** _right. thx_

 ** _Sans:_** _how old is she btw?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _She appears to be somewhere in her teens, I believe._

 ** _Sans:_** _so shes older than the others that fell down here years ago_

 ** _Toriel:_** _She seems to share some similarities with Frisk._

 ** _Toriel:_** _But that does not mean it is her, of course._

 ** _Sans:_** _what kind of similarities?_

 _ **Toriel:**_ _Never mind. She would hold at least some memory of this place if it really was her._

 _ **Toriel:**_ _And might I suggest you work on your grammar and spelling of words when you text._

* * *

 **In case you're wondering about those similarities, Toriel is talking about the hair color and style, Frisk's 'fashion choice' (yes, she returns with her legendary striped shirts), voice similarities, y'know, the usual.**

 **Just thought I'd inform ya.**

 **On a final note, I will be writing Monsters and Humans with capital letters in this story. Thought it'd be a fitting touch.**


	3. Leaving the Ruins

**Shimmer Shy:** _I'm glad to hear that!_

 **If I Could Begin to Be:** _Rest assured, it's not a Horrortale story. I don't even know anything about Horrortale; this is a normal Undertale story, albeit with some changes (no specific AU, though). This chapter might provide you with some answers. Also, your name is awesome._

 **Kitlith:** _You're right about that 'not normal'-stuff: this isn't the same Undertale universe we're used to._ _I changed some things for this story, including the Barrier not being broken._

 **Cecilia Netikas:** _Why do you feel like you're signing a letter? Is this the first time you leave a review…? Well, in any case, I'm glad you like it!_

 **Alright, so I just hope this chapter is good enough…I didn't have much time to properly proofread it, so here goes nothing.**

* * *

 _Chapter three: Leaving the Ruins_

 _"You wish to know how to return 'home', do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again._

 _"Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning._

 _"You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this."_

 _Fire._

 _Half the room was alight._

 _A fireball, heading straight for Frisk._

 _Impact._

* * *

Frisk woke up, gasping for air. Her hair was all over her face in a tangled mess, and it held so much sweat that it felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of salt water over her.

She quickly sat up in bed and looked around the room, momentarily forgetting where she was.

 _Toriel…_

 _The Ruins…_

With a sigh, the Human lay back down in bed with her eyes closed. _Never dreamed so vividly before…it almost felt like one of those memories I got yesterday._

That made her open her eyes again. _Wait…was it…?_

Her thoughts were blocked when she suddenly noticed a sweet smell in the air. She blinked, looked around and saw something on the ground a few meters next to her bed.

It was a plate with a piece of pie on it.

It was undoubtedly the source of the smell, which Frisk had identified as a combination between butterscotch and cinnamon, and allowed the Human to realize that she was hungry.

Having immediately forgotten the whole thing with the memories, she sat up once more before standing up from the bed and walking towards the plate. She picked it up, walked back to the bed, sat back down and began to eat.

The first bite caught her off guard in two ways.

It tasted far better than anything she could recall. Granted, the orphanage she had been living in for pretty much her whole life did have some good food at times, but nothing could compare to _this_. Toriel certainly was an expert in baking.

The other thing was that something in her memory _did_ compare to this…but what? And if even the food down here was going to spark (false?) memories…she didn't know what to think of it.

At least the pie itself was great. Before she knew it, the plate was completely devoid of food…much to her disappointment.

 _Best pie ever._

Then she remembered her dream and how it felt like another memory. It made her fearful and kind of sad at the same time; who'd have thought Toriel could be so violent? Of course, Frisk couldn't really say anything, since she had half expected the lady to kill her while she was asleep. Instead, she had left this delicious pie for the human to eat.

And yet…

 _I probably shouldn't risk it. I'm going to get out of here._

Determined, Frisk stood up and walked over to the bedroom door. She quietly opened it up a sliver and peeked through the opening.

Nothing.

Quickly but carefully, she fully opened the door, left the room and looked around. After seeing that she was alone, she closed it again.

She snuck to the main hall, where the huge staircase was.

 _Is that the exit?_ She thought. _Maybe I should've looked for something to point me in the right direction._

Before she had time to investigate the stairs, she heard a sound from the living room. A familiar figure emerged from the doorway that connected the two rooms seconds later, almost making Frisk flinch. She just managed to suppress the reflex, however, and was now looking at a surprised Toriel.

The goat woman smiled. "I see you are awake," she gleefully said. "Did you have a good rest?"

"Uh, y-yeah," Frisk replied, immediately cursing herself for stuttering. "Uh, the pie was great, too."

Toriel's smile grew. "Excellent! I am so glad!" she exclaimed. "Would you like something to drink with it?"

"Uh, y-yes please," Frisk replied. "Could I…have some water, please?"

"You certainly can. Also, since I completely forgot how confused you must be about your current situation, I would like to discuss some matters with you. Please come with me."

She turned around and reentered the living room.

Frisk quickly thought about this. Should she run for it now? Go down the stairs? But what if it was a dead end? Or worse?

Knowing that going down there wasn't without risks, the Human reluctantly followed Toriel to the living room, just in time to see the lady go through another doorway.

The same smell that the pie had carried emanated from there…was it the kitchen?

"Make yourself comfortable, child!" Toriel's voice called out. "I will be back in a moment!"

Frisk looked around. Like most rooms in this house, the living room wasn't impressively big. There was a burning fireplace, a bookshelf, a reading chair and a dining table with regular wooden seats.

The Human's instinctive first thought was to sit in the reading chair, as it looked rather comfortable. She stopped herself, however, when she realized this was probably Toriel's chair, and whether or not the goat lady was going to kill her, the situation would worsen one way or another.

As Frisk grabbed one of the wooden chairs from the dining table and sat down in it, the goat woman returned with a glass of water, which she gave to the Human.

"You are allowed to sit in my reading chair if you like," she added. "You are free to use it."

Frisk hesitated. While the offer was enticing, there was still no telling if this woman actually wanted her dead. What if it was a trap?

 _You're thinking too far-fetched again._

She quickly shook her head. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks."

"If you are certain…"

Toriel sat down in the reading chair and watched Frisk drink the water. She was slightly confused; there were plenty of other drinks she could have chosen from, yet she chose the most…simple. In any case, when the Human was done, the goat woman spoke up again.

"I believe you have quite a bit of questions," she assumed. "It is rather unusual for a Human to meet a Monster, is it not?"

Frisk blinked. "A Monster?"

"Yes. We Monsters are the inhabitants of the Underground. We were driven here many centuries ago when the Humans declared war on us."

"Why? What happened?"

"The Humans, despite naturally possessing stronger Souls than Monsters, feared us for our power. In the end, they used magic to seal us down here."

"Magic…?"

"Ah, yes…we have been told that the majority of Humans dismiss magic and Monsters as myths. The word 'Monster' has also gained a negative reputation, has it not?"

That caused a guilty sigh to escape the Human's throat and a matching expression to appear on her face. She looked at the ground.

"Yeah…" she softly spoke.

Toriel gave a sympathetic smile. "Do not worry, child. We no longer regard Humans as our enemies. Ever since that Human fell down nine years ago…" she trailed off.

An awkward silence fell, which Frisk did not allow to last as she asked her next question.

"What happened to the other Humans that fell down here?" she asked. "You said I was the first Human to come here in a long time."

The goat woman sorrowfully closed her eyes, already triggering red flags to appear in Frisk's head. Those red flags turned out to be justified when Toriel gave the answer to that question, which caused a shock to go through the Human's body.

"They died…"

Frisk froze.

 _"Every Human that falls down here meets the same fate,"_ the goat woman's voice echoed in her head once again with a mix of sorrow and sternness. _"I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die."_

"The first Human allowed herself to die in order to set a plan in motion. That plan would lead to our escape; our chance to leave the Underground. But then, other Humans foiled this plan, killing my son in the process…"

Frisk's blood ran cold. That was something she did not see coming.

"Asgore, king of the Underground, decided to get vengeance on the Humans for this – a plan I did not agree with. In spite of this, in an attempt to break the Barrier that keeps us trapped down here, Asgore killed every Human that fell down and took their Souls. Once he would have enough Souls to destroy the Barrier, he would destroy Humanity." Toriel sighed. "Or at least that was his plan. Until nine years ago."

Frisk felt sick. The Humans killed this kind lady's son, after which this Asgore began to kill any Humans he'd come across? On top of that, he was going to destroy Humanity altogether once he'd get the chance? She didn't know which side to take at this point.

 _"You naive child…if you leave the Ruins…they…Asgore…will kill you."_

"Nine years ago, when a very…special Human fell down." Toriel's voice began to sound a little more positive. "She changed everything in the Underground. She even brought my son back." The goat woman reopened her eyes and looked at the sixteen year old girl. "Which reminds me…what is your name?"

Asgore…killing Humans…

 _Shit…_

Toriel throwing fireballs your way.

 _Shit!_

 _SHIT!_

"Uh…" Frisk stammered, barely keeping herself restrained.

Fortunately for her, a sound made its way through the room, drawing Toriel's attention to the kitchen, where it seemed to be coming from.

"Oh, I must have left my phone in the kitchen," she said as she stood up. "I will be right back."

She walked through the kitchen door.

Seeing this as a brief opportunity to escape, Frisk got up from her seat as soon as the goat woman was out of sight and quickly snuck back into the main hall. Once there, her gaze was immediately drawn to the mysterious stairs.

Now was the chance to investigate…

"Child?" Toriel's voice rang from the living room. "Where are you?"

Now was the _best_ chance to investigate!

Hiding was probably pointless now; if Frisk were to sacrifice her speed for silence, Toriel would surely find her. Realizing that, the Human picked up her pace and ran towards the staircase.

She still wasn't fast enough: when she reached her goal, Toriel's shocked face could be seen looking at her from the doorway that connected the main hall to the living room. Frisk ran down the steps upon seeing her, skipping the majority of them.

"Child, wait!"

Ignoring the voice, the Human's velocity increased once she had made it down the stairs. Her problems were not yet over, however: she was currently in a long, somewhat narrow hallway where Toriel could easily hit her with a fireball. The only cover Frisk could find was in the shape of a left turn at the end.

 _Gotta make it there…_

The adrenaline that was coursing through her veins allowed her to reach a speed that she never thought was Humanly possible, and the distance between her and her cover shrunk with the same speed as a result. Frisk probably would've become a bit more optimistic upon noticing this, but she was too busy praying that she wouldn't be burned alive.

The goat woman's pleading became less and less audible as Frisk ran farther away from her, eventually reaching the turn she had been trying to get to. Once she ran around the corner, she almost froze.

At the end of the hallway, a large double door was visible.

Was it the exit?

Was it locked?

 _Please don't be locked…_

Seeing no doorknob or anything along those lines, Frisk hoped for the best as she continued running towards her current goal before once again using her momentum against it in an attempt to force it open.

Locked.

She growled a swearword before throwing herself against it one more time.

Nothing.

She furiously continued her assault on the door in every way possible without any effect. She punched and kicked, trying to ignore the pain she felt despite the adrenaline. She also failed to notice that her knuckles were bleeding from trying to break this cursed barrier down.

It was only when Toriel grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from the door that she ceased her attack on it. This was quickly followed, however, by a series of violent attempts to break free from her grip. The goat woman managed to keep the Human restrained at first, but it didn't take long before her arms began to falter under Frisk's relentless onslaught. Eventually she was forced to let go.

Frisk quickly backed up towards the door, keeping her eyes locked on Toriel, whose arms were battered by the Human's ferocious attacks.

"Y-you can't keep me here!" was the first thing she said. "You can't keep me locked up!"

The goat woman looked back at her with an expression that showed worry, confusion and shock.

"My child, what on Earth makes you say that? Why would I ever attempt to keep you here?"

Frisk glared at her. "'Every Human that falls down here meets the same fate'," she quoted from the memory without thinking. "'They come. They leave. They die'."

Toriel looked back at her, confused at first. Then, as if the memories were flooding back, realization dawned on her eyes.

"'No one will ever be able to leave again'," Frisk continued. "That's what you said. I don't know how I know this or to whom you said it, but I know you did.

"You tried to keep a kid here 'cause you were scared that Asgore would kill him! But you can't just keep someone here against their will!" she yelled, her voice becoming almost venomous. "That's not protection, that's entrapment!"

A silence fell. Toriel still had that shocked look on her face (although it had briefly changed to guilt when Frisk threw those accusations), and Frisk herself wasn't sure what to think of the situation. She did know she was scared, and after having yelled at Toriel so much, that fear was probably justified. But the goat lady didn't do anything to harm her, which made the Human regret what she had said even more.

Toriel's voice was little more than a whisper when she spoke up again.

"Frisk…?"

Frisk froze. How did this woman suddenly know her name? She didn't recall telling her.

"Are you…? Have you…?" Toriel continued, unable to make full sentences.

"How do you know my name?" Frisk hissed, ignoring the woman's stuttering. "What's going on here!?"

The older woman didn't answer; instead, her eyes began to water as the shocked expression turned into a…happy one? She held her hands over her mouth, as if she could not believe what she was seeing – which was probably the case.

"My child…" she whispered. "You've grown so much…"

Frisk blinked. What? What did that mean?

 _Isn't it obvious?_ The mocking voice in the back of her head said. _Even now, you can't properly put two and two together? I'd say that makes you special, but that would imply it's a trait to be proud of._

She had been remembering and recognizing things that she wasn't supposed to remember, and Toriel appeared to know her. She even knew the Human's name…

 _You've been here before._

She almost shook her head. _No, that's not possible._

 _Fine. Don't believe it. Keep ignoring the evidence. Keep clinging onto a lie._

"You…you do not remember me?" Toriel asked. "N-nine years ago? Your mission to return to your home on the Surface? Y-your battle with Asriel?"

What was she talking about?

"We…we did not know if you had survived, Frisk…we had been sitting in uncertainty ever since you left."

"Why don't I remember that, then?!" Frisk asked. "You'd think I'd remember almost having my Soul ripped from my body!"

Toriel visibly winced. "Please, child…that is something we would preferably leave behind us. Because in spite of some Monsters having made attempts on your life…you showed them all mercy. You showed _me_ mercy when I wanted you to battle me. You showed Asgore mercy. Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton…and eventually Asriel.

"And everyone else you met during your time here. Everyone who attacked you in an attempt to assist Asgore with his plan. Even to this day, you are regarded as the hero who changed the Underground for the better."

She sighed. "We still sometimes discuss how much we would like to see you again…and now, here you are!" She looked at Frisk with sympathetic eyes. "I understand if you are still unable to trust me, child. And that is why I will allow you to leave the Ruins. If you wish to remember, you must find answers that I cannot provide you with."

A click could suddenly be heard behind Frisk. Startled, she whirled around to see the double door opening, presenting a hallway.

The surprised Human turned back to a still watery-eyed Toriel, who gave her a slight nod and held out a jacket that she got from seemingly nowhere for Frisk to take.

"You are free to go, my child."


	4. The guy who loves puzzles

**Maya the Phoenix:** _I'm actually relieved to hear that; I was afraid that the third chapter was the worst so far due to…reasons. Thanks for your review!_

 **Cecilia netikas:** _Oh, ok. That explains it for me. And…whether Sans_ will _find out about Frisk's identity…well…go ahead and read._

 **Guest:** _Maybe, maybe not…_

* * *

 _Chapter four: The guy who loves puzzles_

 _You just refused safe shelter and good food to find answers. Answers to what? Questions that probably aren't even that relevant. You left Toriel to rot in those Ruins until…whenever. You're such a great person, Frisk._

The girl in question angrily shook the taunting voice out of her head as she walked through the snow that lay on the ground. After Toriel gave her a parting hug and a jacket, the Human left the Ruins; the door that connected it to the outside was still visible from where she currently was. To her left, an ominously dark forest was present, the cold temperature in the area not allowing its trees to grow any leaves. Up ahead, a snowy path was visible.

Frisk's thoughts and guilt were enough to keep her from noticing the eerie atmosphere of her environment. Despite – or maybe because of – the silence, one could not shake the feeling of being watched. The woods next to the path were an excellent place to hide from sight, so the possibility of being spied on was not to be dismissed easily.

But Frisk didn't notice this. Toriel had told her that it was safe for Humans to be here now, so she didn't worry.

Until she saw something notable in her path…

Up ahead, the trail in the snow connected to a short wooden bridge that allowed passage over a ravine. Said ravine wasn't very wide for one, but still wide enough for Frisk to know that trying to jump over it was probably not a good idea.

She only hoped the bridge wouldn't collapse.

Something behind her cracked in the snow.

She whirled around and looked at where she heard the sound to be met with a figure.

The figure was short, shorter than her, and was wearing an unzipped blue hoodie, a white t-shirt and black shorts. Their eye sockets were completely black, save for the white pupils in the middle. The toothy grin they had on their face didn't seem malevolent, but Frisk still found it…unsettling.

Their most striking feature, however, was its apparent lack of skin and internal organs, with the exception of their bones.

Frisk froze. She was looking at a skeleton, one that was standing just two meters away from her.

Upon being seen, the skeleton chuckled and shrugged before putting its hands in its pockets.

"guess i should practice my sneaking," it said in a deep voice that revealed its gender as being male.

Frisk instinctively backed up when the skeleton took a few steps closer to her and held out his hand for her to shake. "hi. i'm sans. sans the skeleton. how're you doing?"

"Why'd you sneak up on me?" Frisk coldly replied.

Sans pulled his hand back and his grin widened a bit. "no reason."

"You don't just sneak up on someone for 'no reason'."

"i do."

"Well, don't do it again. That's not how you make friends." She pointed to the bridge behind her. "You think that thing can hold me without falling?"

"'course," Sans replied. "wouldn't be much of a bridge if it couldn't, right?"

The Human sighed before turning to the bridge in question.

Immediately realizing that she just turned her back to a sneaky, potentially dangerous individual, she whirled back around to see him…gone?

She blinked and looked around, still seeing no sign of him.

 _Well, isn't that terrifying._

Not knowing where he went or how he managed to leave so quickly and quietly, Frisk hesitantly turned back to the bridge. She examined it – it seemed stable – before slowly lifting her foot and placing it on the wooden planks.

It didn't move or creak, but Frisk was still nervous when she took the second step.

Nothing.

Third step.

"you good, kid?"

She jumped and looked up, her expression turning into a scowl when she saw Sans standing there with the same grin, watching her as she went.

"Where'd you go just now?" she asked, annoyed. "And where'd you come from?"

"i take shortcuts," the skeleton simply responded.

Frisk sighed and continued walking, although she was a lot less tense now. Her speed had increased from a hesitant tiptoeing to a fast walking pace, and it barely took a second for her to reach the other end of the bridge. Once there, Sans spoke again.

"see? ya can trust me."

Frisk stared back at him with a half-lidded, unamused gaze. "Right. Of course. You totally proved that."

"i assure you, i'm not one for _skull_ duggery."

A groan made its way through the Human's throat.

"what?" Sans asked. "c'mon, that was _humerus_."

"I'm leaving," Frisk said. "Bye."

"wait," the skeleton said. "there's something else i need to tell you."

"No offense, but I really don't feel like listening to your puns right now."

"no, i'm keeping those puns for later. look…

"i'm a sentry, and it's my job to bring any humans i see to king asgore. he always wants to meet them personally to help them integrate down here or something like that. now, the problem is that i'm too lazy to actually do what i'm s'posed to do, but…

"my brother, papyrus, won't hesitate to do his job. he's a sentry too, and a zealous one at that. so you should probably meet him if you want to—"

"Alright, stop there," Frisk interrupted. "I'm not going to meet anyone for now. That includes your brother and the king."

"and why's that?" Sans suspiciously asked.

"I'm not ignoring you or anything, just…" she sighed. "Can't I just go to the castle on my own? I don't appreciate being brought there like mail."

Despite the skeleton's eternal grin, Frisk could easily tell that he was surprised to hear that. His eyes narrowed a bit, but he didn't seem angry. Just…confused.

"…you actually _want_ to meet asgore?" he asked. "i mean, he's a good guy and all, but…"

Frisk scratched her head and continued walking with Sans following her. "I…have some memories to recover."

"what do you…wait…what was your name again?"

"SANS!" a voice suddenly rung. "SANS, WHERE ARE YOU!"

"that's my brother," Sans chuckled when he saw Frisk's face. "he's probably not going to let you pass, or at least not without solving his puzzles."

The Human put her face in her hands. "Oh, no…"

"you don't like puzzles?"

"…"

"SANS! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LAZYBONES!"

"I take it the puns run in the family," Frisk assumed, unaware of how wrong that statement really was.

"THERE YOU ARE—" the voice froze, and so did the tall figure Frisk saw standing a few meters ahead.

"sup, bro," Sans grinned. "it's some _ice_ weather we're having, huh?"

"SANS!" Papyrus repeated. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE AND HELP ME WELCOME THE HUMAN TO THE UNDERGROUND!"

Aside from obviously being a skeleton with black eye sockets, Papyrus barely looked like his brother. Whereas Sans was short and broad, Papyrus was tall and thin, and wore orange instead of blue. His glorious scarf was gently waving in the wind, making him look like some kind of skeletal Superman.

His behavior also seemed to be the opposite of his shorter brother's; one look at Papyrus would wake the impression of a flamboyant, maybe somewhat complacent Human hunter. In any case, he didn't appear lazy or humorous in any way, as evidenced by his intensifying glare after Sans made that pun.

Even the voices sounded unfitting.

"calm down, bro. maybe we should first make sure that our house isn't… _snowed in_."

"Didn't get that one," Frisk muttered.

"SANS! STOP BOTHERING THE HUMAN WITH YOUR HORRENDOUS PUNS! WE NEED TO PREPARE THE PUZZLES!"

He then looked at Frisk with an apologetic expression. "MY APOLOGIES, HUMAN. MY BROTHER DOES NOT KNOW WHEN TO STOP PUNNING. BUT WORRY NOT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SAVE YOU FROM HIS PUNNY ONSLAUGHT!"

"yeah, i'm such a _punny_ guy…"

"SANS!"

"Alright guys, that's enough," the Human cut in. "You kids stop fighting before the neighbors start complaining."

"HE STARTED IT!" Papyrus objected.

Frisk sighed. "It's getting cold out here."

The taller skeleton's face immediately got a huge smile that rivaled Sans' – something the Human didn't think possible.

"WELL THEN, HUMAN! I WILL GLADLY GRANT YOU SHELTER IN MY HOUSE. IF! IF YOU GET PAST MY PUZZLES!"

"No, I think I can live with visiting an inn, thanks," Frisk declined. "Where's the nearest town?"

"just follow the path. you'll eventually come across snowdin," Sans replied to Frisk's relief.

"BUT THE PATH IS BLOCKED BY MY INGENIOUS PUZZLES FOR YOU TO SOLVE," Papyrus revealed. "THE ONLY WAY TO REACH SHELTER IS BY GETTING PAST THEM!

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" the tall skeleton cackled as he left the area.

Frisk sighed in defeat. "Solving puzzles while freezing my ass off…'cause that's fun…" she complained. "Could I please _not_ have to do this?"

Sans gave her a sympathetic look. "listen, kid," he softly said. "you'd be doing him – and by extent me – a huge favor if you'd solve those puzzles. y'see, it's been nine years since a human fell down here and paps has been a bit down since then.

"which reminds me…what was your name again?"

Frisk felt a small electric spark go down her spine. She hadn't told him her name yet, and since Toriel seemed to know it…

 _"_ _Even to this day, you are regarded as the hero who changed the Underground for the better."_

The Human swallowed before she hesitantly gave her answer.

"…Frisk," she said. "My name's Frisk."

A silence fell.

Sans raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "frisk, huh…you've been down here before?"

"You tell me," Frisk replied with fake indifference. "Anyway, I gotta go. I want to solve your brother's puzzles before I get hypothermia."

* * *

Ignoring the stares she got and whispers she heard from the surrounding monsters whenever she walked by them, Frisk continued wandering through the snow in search of the tall skeleton and his puzzles. Despite the jacket Toriel gave her, the cold was still bothersome, which was the very reason she didn't feel like solving anything Papyrus threw at her. But she wasn't going to try to sneak past him: Sans told her that his brother had been down lately, and if Frisk really had the power to help with that, she'd use it to the best of her ability.

Contrary to what Frisk liked to believe, she did have a heart. Yes, her demeanor was usually a bit cold and direct, but she secretly saw the good side of people. She cared about Toriel, even if she didn't trust her at first. Sans, while initially a bit annoying, was clearly a nice guy, and Papyrus seemed to have a good heart. Despite the whole thing with the puzzles.

Either way, after convincing a Monster – a fellow who introduced himself as Snowdrake – to _not_ bring her to Asgore, Frisk stumbled across an open area in her path. A large rectangular part of the snow on the ground seemed to have been partially removed, as if something invisible was resting on it. On the other side of the rectangle, Sans and Papyrus were having an argument.

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled. "YOUR JOKES ARE NOT FUNNY!"

"aw c'mon, bro," Sans said. "you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT! ANYWAY, THIS IS THE SAME—" he froze when he saw Frisk.

"what is it, bro? oh hi, human."

Papyrus' frown turned into a grin. "HUMAN! YOU HAVE ARRIVED! ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN THIS FIRST PUZZLE." He gestured to the rectangle on the ground. "THIS IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! IT HAS NOT BEEN CHANGED FOR OVER NINE YEARS, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY."

"Why's that?" Frisk asked.

"it's a real hassle to change it," Sans explained. "not only is it electrified, but trying to change it is like moving walls."

"IT _IS_ MOVING WALLS, ACTUALLY," Papyrus added. "HOWEVER, THE ELECTRICITY IS NOT A PROBLEM AS LONG AS THE RENOVATORS DO NOT HOLD THIS ORB."

He showed Frisk a light blue orb, about the size of a tennis ball.

"IF YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!"

"You mean like this?" Frisk asked as she moved her hand to where she guessed the wall was. She felt her hand touch something above the sides of the rectangle, and a _ZAP_ could be heard. She looked at where it came from, and had to suppress a grin when she saw a somewhat shaken up Papyrus.

She mentally kicked herself for being such a sadist.

"OWIE!" he whimpered. "Y-YES, EXACTLY LIKE THAT! HOWEVER…THE RULES STATE THAT YOU ARE TO HOLD THE ORB DURING YOUR ATTEMPT TO PASS THE MAZE WITHOUT GETTING ELECTROCUTED."

Upon saying that, the tall skeleton walked over the rectangle, only taking a certain route before reaching Frisk.

"HOLD THIS, PLEASE," he said as he offered the orb to the Human.

Frisk sighed and took the orb, after which Papyrus immediately turned tail and ran back to the other side via the very same route, leaving some deep and obvious footprints in the already thin layer of snow.

The Human barely hesitated and confidently stepped forward, again having to hold back a grin when she stepped in Papyrus' footprints. As she progressed through the maze with little to no problem using the prints as her guide, the tall skeleton's face turned into a confused scowl, which intensified when Frisk reached the other side and gave the orb back to him.

"YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY… _TOO_ EASILY!" Papyrus pensively said. "IT REMINDS ME OF…" he paused. "…ANYWAY, THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE SO EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Before Frisk had the chance to say anything to him, the skeleton seemingly floated away with incredible speed, leaving the Human to stare into Sans' eye sockets.

She walked up to him, suddenly feeling a dizziness come over her. She staggered a bit, eventually having to lean on the wall of the invisible maze as something began to spark in her head.

Sans took a few steps in her direction, ready to help if necessary. "you okay there, kid?"

"Uh…yeah, fine…" Frisk mumbled.

"hey, uh, i really appreciate you doing this. thought you should know. paps looks like he's having fun."

Frisk didn't answer. She was looking pensive, her eyes gazing into nothingness as she tried to remember…

"kid?"

The Human jumped. "Huh? Oh, yeah, no prob."

Sans narrowed his eyes a bit. "you sure you're okay? you look tired."

Again, Frisk remained silent.

"and you're not listening."

The Human briefly closed her eyes before looking at the skeleton again. "Hey, Sans…"

"what?"

"The Human that fell down here nine years ago…did they go through this puzzle?"

"yes. why?"

"How'd they solve it?"

"same way you did; papyrus accidently showed her the way when he went to give her that orb."

"Huh…"

"something tells me you already knew this."

Frisk blinked, thought, and eventually took a step in the direction Papyrus went.

"It's time to go."

Sans said nothing as he watched her walk away.

* * *

"HUMAN! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR…" A brief pause. "SANS! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE!"

"it's right there. on the ground. trust me. there's no way she can get past this one."

Frisk gave the duo a weird look before looking at where Sans was pointing, noticing a piece of paper lying on the ground. Already suspecting what kind of puzzle this would be, she sighed and walked up to it.

She picked it up and gave it a short, bored look before putting it back and continuing her advance on the brothers.

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled. "THAT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"whoops. i knew i should've used today's crossword instead."

"WHAT!? CROSSWORD!? THIS IS LIKE NINE YEARS AGO WHEN WE ASKED FRISK'S OPINION AND SHE GAVE THE WEIRDEST ANSWER I'VE HEARD YET!"

Frisk briefly shared a look with Sans when her name was mentioned before speaking up.

"What'd you ask her?"

Papyrus looked at her. "WE ASKED HER WHICH WAS MORE DIFFICULT: JUNIOR JUMBLE OR CROSSWORD." He sighed. "SHE SAID CROSSWORD! ISN'T THAT RIDICULOUS!"

For about the third time today, Frisk had to keep herself from grinning. "Well, I can see why," she said. "I still—…I mean, I do too."

"WHAT! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE! HOW IS IT THAT EVERYONE SHARES THE SAME SENTIMENT ABOUT THESE THINGS!"

"i think i know the answer to that, bro."

"REALLY? WHAT IS IT?"

"crosswords are harder."

"OH, DON'T GIVE ME THAT!"

"it's true." Sans turned to the Human. "you agree with me, right?"

"Yup."

"THIS IS SIMPLY UNBELIEVABLE!" Papyrus remarked. "BUT REGARDLESS, I MUST GO. I HAVE A DUTY TO ATTEND TO."

And with that, he was gone.

Frisk let out a chuckle. "Time to go."

"wait."

She turned to Sans, who was giving her a questioning look.

"why don't you tell him who you are?"

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"you're her, aren't you?"

Frisk opened her mouth, planning to deny it before sighing.

"Alright, look…" she said. "To be frank with you: I don't remember much. Some things are oddly familiar and I've had some dreams and…visions…about this place's past.

"In the Ruins – where I first arrived when I fell down here – someone seemed to recognize me when I told her about them. Somehow, she knew my name, said that I was pretty well known down here and that nobody knew if I was dead or not. She didn't really go into detail."

"and then you left."

"I had to get answers. If I've really been down here before and I don't remember, I'd like to know more."

Sans let out a sigh before looking directly at her, a serious look in his eyes.

"you were seven when you fell down here. you were quiet and shy, but determined. you've been an orphan since you were two, and have no memory of your parents. you prefer cinnamon above butterscotch.

"i know this because i know _you_ , kid. nine years ago, when humans were still hunted, papyrus tried to capture you. he wanted to prove himself to undyne, the leader of the royal guard at the time. he didn't know that you were going to have your soul taken from you, and i know he'd make sure he wouldn't kill you during your fight with him. you won said fight after…well… _not_ fighting, convincing him to officially become your friend."

It was Frisk's turn to sigh now. He was right. She'd been an orphan for as long as she could remember. She had gone through some great changes in character since she was seven. She was a pacifist back then, never intentionally hurting anyone even if they tried to hurt her. Now, she was prepared to fight if things went south in any way.

"You're not wrong," she quietly replied. "Guess that can only mean one thing…"

"it _is_ you, frisk," Sans said, somehow knowing that Frisk wasn't lying. "some of us thought you were…"

"Dead, I know. Toriel told me."

A silence fell.

It ended when Frisk continued walking, giving Sans a forced smirk. "C'mon. We don't want to keep your brother waiting."

"frisk…" the skeleton said, making the Human stop again. "look, just…we should tell papyrus about who you are, but don't be too…direct, okay? he took it pretty hard when you disappeared. then again, we all did, but…" he paused. "just…it's probably best if he finds out…slowly."

"Right."

* * *

After going through a few more, rather trivial puzzles that for some reason weren't supervised by the tall puzzle master, Frisk came across yet another rectangle on the ground. The difference between this one and the one at the invisible maze, was that it didn't seem to have any snow on it at all. Instead, it consisted of white and gray tiles.

On the other side stood the skelebros once more, grinning at her when she arrived.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus cheerfully called. "I AM SO GLAD YOU'VE ARRIVED! YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS!"

"By whom now?" Frisk lazily asked, but the skeleton didn't hear her.

"THESE TILES…" Papyrus gestured to the tiles on the ground "WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLOR ON MY COMMAND, WITH EACH COLOR HAVING A DIFFERENT FUNCTION!"

From there, the tall, bony creature began a huge rant about which color did what, the effects that certain tiles had on other tiles if you walked on them in a certain order, and so on. Frisk tried to remember it, but wasn't sure if she'd recall every function of every tile during the puzzle. Regardless, she chose that asking Papyrus to tell the rules again wasn't worth her time, as she had already been standing still for too long in the relentless cold.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND, HUMAN?"

The Human in question sighed and nodded.

"GREAT! THEN THERE IS ONLY ONE THING I HAVE LEFT TO EXPLAIN…

"THIS PUZZLE IS COMPLETELY RANDOM!"

And with that, he turned to the machine next to him, pulled a switch and then looked back to the tiles with satisfaction.

The satisfaction was justified, as they began to change color exactly like he said. Every tile flashed from red to green to blue, dazing Frisk into looking away a bit…until eventually, the puzzle was created.

It was a pink path with red edges, generating a safe, straight path to the other side.

Frisk blinked.

Papyrus glared. "WHAT! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING!"

"maybe we should tell alphys about it," Sans suggested.

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS, SANS! WHAT COULD SHE POSSIBLY DO?"

"well, she's the one who created the thing."

That made the taller skeleton put a hand to his chin. "HMMM…YES, THAT COULD BE A POSSIBLE SOLUTION…BUT NOW!" He looked at the Human, who was still standing on the other side. "HUMAN! DO NOT GET OVERCONFIDENT AFTER THIS! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE MORE FOR YOU IN STORE!"

Before anyone could say anything, he swiftly slid away with the same stunning speed as before.

"Huh…" Frisk muttered. She then made her way across the 'puzzle', and looked at Sans. "What now?"

"i'm pretty sure paps is going to keep trying," Sans said. "try to remember stuff about him before you meet him again. it'll probably help."

"He likes making spaghetti," Frisk recalled. "Back at the maze, I got a bit of a memory spike. Most of it was about Papyrus and you."

"really? what else do you remember?"

"Well…" the Human thought for a moment. "You met Toriel when you were practicing knock-knock jokes on the door of the Ruins. She loved them."

Sans nodded. "that's right. which is funny, 'cause not only are you an amnesiac, it's almost been a decade since you fell down here. so…" His eye sockets narrowed. "…how do you still remember all of that?"

"I didn't ask her!" Frisk defensively clarified. "Heck, she didn't even tell me about you or Papyrus when I left the Ruins. She only mentioned Asgore and the history of this place, but that was about it."

* * *

She got more weird looks from several Monsters when she arrived in Snowdin. She was also approached by some of them about bringing her to the castle (this guy Asgore apparently wanted to meet her really badly), and convincing them to leave her alone wasn't easy.

She was relieved when Sans appeared, effectively saving her from getting taken to the king. She was even gladder when he invited her to go to Grillby's (his favorite restaurant) with him, offering to buy her some food and a drink. He also added that there was a toilet inside.

The duo took a seat at the bar, and were quickly greeted by a Monster that appeared to consist entirely of fire. Despite that, they were still somehow able to wear clothing without burning it, and a pair of glasses rested on where their nose and ears should be.

"sup, grill," Sans said. "i'll take a burger."

The fiery Monster – who Frisk assumed to be Grillby – gave a nod and looked at the Human.

"I'd like a burger too, please," she politely said. Once again, Grillby nodded before walking away to get their orders.

"he's not much of a talkative guy," Sans mentioned. He looked at her, and a slightly cautious gaze was visible in his eyes. "okay, look…

"you probably shouldn't tell anyone who you are here unless you'd want to spend the next few hours shaking everyone's hands. you're just 'sans' friend', okay? also, you should keep in mind that papyrus will probably break down when he finds out who you are."

"Why's that?" Frisk asked. The skeleton sighed, briefly averting his gaze from her.

"it's…complicated. y'see, just before you disappeared, he…called everyone."

The Human gave him a questioning look.

"alright, lemme just start from the beginning…

"just before you disappeared, you were about to fight asgore. then someone told paps to call pretty much everyone to go there to do what tori did before they arrived: prevent the battle. and…

"well…let's just say that because everyone was there, pretty much the entire world was in danger. y'see, the guy who told papyrus to call everyone had…bad intentions. if it weren't for you, i don't know what would've happened.

"thing is, papyrus still blames himself for doing what that bad guy told him to do. he blames himself for all that danger the world was in, as well as your disappearance. this is one of the reasons why he took it so hard. maybe even the hardest of us all. even though he didn't know what that bad guy was up to before…it happened."

Frisk blinked, shocked at this new piece of information. She barely noticed that her burger was already waiting for her.

"I…did not know that," she quietly admitted. "Man…that's…"

"frisk…" Sans calmly spoke, "do you blame him?"

She snapped her head in his direction. "What?"

Sans' looked at her with a terrifyingly serious expression. His pupils appeared to be…fading?

"do you blame him?" he repeated in that same calm voice.

Frisk glared back at him. "Do I—…no I don't! I can't believe you even asked that! It wasn't him who friggin' absorbed all your Souls, was it?"

Sans' eyes turned back to normal and his already unreadable expression turned into a shocked one as he looked at her. Frisk retained her glare at first, but then suddenly realized what she just said as well. Her anger melted away at once, making place for wild confusion.

"…what did you say?" Sans asked. He didn't sound threatening or angry at all. Just…surprised.

The Human remained silent as she tried to comprehend what just happened, a sickening feeling making its way into her stomach. That's when she noticed the burgers in front of her.

"Uh…" she muttered.

Silence.

Then the skeleton came back to his senses and reached for her arm in an attempt to calm her down, but she shoved her seat backwards and got back on the ground.

"Y-you can have my burger," she shakily said. "I-I'm not really hungry."

"frisk?" Sans voiced, but the Human began to walk away.

"I just need to think for a bit," she called over her shoulder.

She quickly put her jacket back on when she was met with the cold air outside, after which she walked in the direction she had initially been going to, all the while thinking about what happened just now.

 _'_ _Absorbed all your Souls?' What does that even mean? Where'd I get that thought? Did that actually happen last time I was here?_

 _But if that's the case, who_ did _absorb their Souls? And why? Was it Asgore? Or…_

"HUMAN."

She froze.

* * *

 **I know that Frisk's powerful memory recovery may be unrealistic, but first you should consider what might've caused her to forget everything in the first place…**

 **Speaking of which, I'll probably make the explanation for her amnesia either a barely important, hackneyed thing, OR…something for a possible sequel.** ** _If_** **this story is going to have a sequel, that is.**


	5. Water and music

**Kitlith:** _Like I said (or implied) on the author's note previous chapter, the cause of the memory loss may have an influence on how easily it comes back. A possibility is that the cause and/or the comeback is/are magical…_

* * *

 _Chapter five: Water and music_

"HUMAN," Papyrus repeated.

"ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS."

Frisk didn't answer. She just looked at the tall, familiar silhouette that found itself behind a thick wall of mist, staring her down as it spoke in an equally familiar voice.

"FEELINGS LIKE…HAVING SOMEONE YOU JUST MET ACT LIKE A LONG GONE OLD FRIEND. AN OLD FRIEND WHO IS GONE BECAUSE OF YOU. WHO RISKED THEIR LIFE TO SAVE EVERYONE THEY KNEW, AS WELL AS EVERYONE THEY DIDN'T KNOW.

"THESE FEELINGS…ARE WHAT I AM FEELING NOW. YOU SEE…"

The figure took a step towards the still unmoving Human.

"NINE YEARS AGO, A HUMAN FELL DOWN. A HUMAN WHO THOROUGHLY CHANGED THE UNDERGROUND, MAKING IT A FAR BETTER PLACE. THIS HUMAN…WAS ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS.

"HOWEVER, IT WAS BECAUSE OF MY STUPIDITY AND NAIVETY THAT THE HUMAN'S LIFE WAS ENDANGERED. THAT THE ENTIRE _WORLD_ 'S LIFE WAS ENDANGERED."

Papyrus took another step, passing the thickest part of the mist. Frisk saw his face now; a sad but strong expression was visible on it.

"I AM UNSURE AS TO WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT, BUT I DO KNOW THAT, WHILE THE WORLD WAS SAFE, THE HUMAN HAD VANISHED. NOBODY WAS SURE WHETHER THEY WERE DEAD, BUT WE FEARED THE WORST.

"YOU, HUMAN, REMIND ME OF THE CHILD WHO FELL DOWN HERE NINE YEARS AGO. I SENSE THAT YOU HAVE A SIMILAR STRENGTH. A SIMILAR KINDNESS. A SIMILAR GOAL TO DO THE RIGHT THING. EVEN YOUR APPEARANCE IS SIMILAR TO AN EXTENT. HOWEVER…

"AS I WOULD RATHER NOT BE REMINDED OF MY PAST MISTAKES, I MUST ASK YOU TO ALLOW ME TO TAKE YOU TO THE CASTLE! IF YOU HAVE THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF MERCY IN YOU, YOU WILL ALLOW ME TO REDEEM MYSELF, IF ONLY FOR A LITTLE BIT! SO…"

A strong wind suddenly blew, removing the mist. There, a few meters in front of Frisk, Papyrus was standing fierce and tall, giving her a stern look.

"WHAT SAY YOU?"

Frisk quickly thought. She had to convince Papyrus of who she probably was…and that the whole incident he just referred to (probably) wasn't his fault.

The Human didn't remember much about the incident itself, but judging from what she'd been told by Sans and the few things she started to remember about Papyrus, she simply _knew_ that he wasn't to blame.

She took a deep breath, held it for a second and exhaled before letting out a chuckle.

"You still like making spaghetti, Paps?" she quietly spoke in an attempt to convince him to stand down.

Papyrus initially froze and blinked, obviously confused.

Frisk just thought that she had already gotten through to him, when a fear-inducing glare suddenly made its way onto the skeleton's face. A glare that did not suit him at all.

"DO NOT SIMPLY PRETEND TO KNOW ME, HUMAN! AND DON'T YOU DARE CLAIM THE OTHER HUMAN'S IDENTITY, BECAUSE…BECAUSE…

"WELL…IF YOU REALLY WERE THEM, YOU'D HAVE TOLD ME BY NOW!"

"Yeah, well…" Frisk said. "I have a bit of an amnesia problem…"

"HUMAN!"

Papyrus' glare intensified, and something appeared above him that made the Human in question gasp.

It appeared to be some kind of huge skull. It bore a terrifying grin and eyes that seemed to belong in a haunted house. It didn't even look like a Human skull: Frisk wasn't sure what creature it belonged to (if any at all), but it probably didn't just loom above them for no reason.

"THIS…" He gestured to the skull. "…IS SOMETHING I CAN USE TO INCAPACITATE YOU WITH EASE. NOT _KILL_ , MIND YOU, INCAPACITATE. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SILENCED BY FORCE, YOU WILL ALLOW ME TO TAKE YOU TO KING ASGORE RIGHT NOW!"

Frisk gulped, and Sans' words suddenly echoed in her head.

 _"_ _it's probably best if he finds out…slowly"_

She had to choose her next words carefully if she didn't want to be eaten alive and transported in a skeletal stomach (or whatever that skull would do). Unfortunately, due to the limited time that closed in on her, she had little chance to actually choose.

"I…I don't remember much, Papyrus, but listen to me before you fight me, 'kay? Look…all I can remember so far is that…well…you like making spaghetti. Or, well, you like to cook, and…didn't you make spaghetti for me once?"

She looked at his now somewhat surprised face. "Fellow pasta lover?" she tried as relaxed as she could with that huge skull thing still hovering above her.

Papyrus was slightly taken aback at first by Frisk's knowledge about him, but this quickly changed as his determination and anger returned. He threateningly lifted up his hand, upon which the skull above him opened its jaw.

"Nobody told me this!" the Human clarified. "I remember it, Papyrus! My memory about my time in the Underground nine years ago has been foggy, but I'm starting to remember!"

The skeleton hesitated.

"The name of the Human who fell down here nine years ago is Frisk!"

Papyrus still didn't do anything.

Frisk's breathing increased in speed as she quickly thought about what else she could mention about him.

But nothing came to mind.

 _Great. You got any more awesome ideas?_

Then, he spoke.

"…HUMAN…" he slowly called. "IF YOU REALLY ARE WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE…I WILL SEE IF YOU CAN ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

"WHO ACCOMPANIED US THE PREVIOUS TIME WE FOUGHT HERE?"

Frisk blinked. The previous time they fought…how'd that go again? The memory of it was vague; it had been subtly appearing in her head over time, and she had paid little attention to it so far. Now that she was here, the progress of the memory's return had gotten a significant boost, but the majority of it was still obscured.

The last time they fought…who was with them?

…

"HUMAN."

Then, she remembered something. It wasn't very reliable for an answer, but it was all she had.

"We were alone!" she screamed. "And we hung out afterwards!"

"CORRECT," Papyrus said, surprised but still suspicious. "AND WHAT DID I USE DURING OUR HANGOUT?"

"Uh…"

 _'_ _Use'? What's that mean? What can you use during a—_

"Wait…" she suddenly recalled. "A…hangout guidebook?"

Silence.

"P-paps?"

"HUMAN…" he paused. "YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY…

"CORRECT! THAT IS SOMETHING I NEVER TOLD ANYONE; EVEN THE EMPLOYEES AT THE LIBRARY! THEREFORE, THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD'VE KNOWN ALL THAT…"

He cut himself off as he froze once again. His eye sockets widened.

The skull above his head faded out of existence.

Frisk was worried. What just—

"F…FRISK!"

A tear escaped his eye socket. He leapt towards the Human and gave her a strong and unexpected hug.

"I…I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" he cried. "HUMAN! I AM SO…SO…"

He burst into tears. "I AM SO SORRY, HUMAN! I PUT YOU IN HARM'S WAY! IT WAS MY FAULT THAT…THAT…"

"Papyrus!"

Papyrus fell silent and looked down at the Human who had just spoken his name. She looked back sternly before sighing.

"Paps…" she softly said. "I'll be honest: I don't remember much about the incident that happened before I…left. But I know enough about you to know that you can't be responsible for something like that! You're not the one who attacked, remember?!"

Papyrus sniffed. "B-BUT…"

"No. I won't have any of that. Before you start blaming yourself, you should ask yourself if doing that is justified. Did you hold the gun?"

"BUT I WAS SO NAIVE…I SHOULDN'T'VE BEEN SO NAIVE!"

"You trusted someone who turned out to be the bad guy, right? Well, let me ask you…does trusting others make you naive? There are still people you trust, right? You trust Sans, don't you? To an extent…" She chuckled, and was pleased to hear Papyrus do the same.

"TH…THANK YOU, HUMAN…" Papyrus stammered. "Y…YOU MADE ME FEEL BETTER. I AM SORRY YOU HAVE TO SEE THE GREAT PAPYRUS LIKE THIS." He broke the hug and wiped his tears away.

"I…I UNDERSTAND IF YOU HAVE TO GO NOW. FIND YOUR ANSWERS." He pointed to the area behind him. "Y-YOU HAVE TO PASS THROUGH THE WATERFALLS TO GET TO HOTLAND. THERE, YOU MUST FIND DR. ALPHYS AND UNDYNE. TH-THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP YOU."

Frisk smiled. "Thank you, Paps," she softly said. "I really appreciate this."

"IT…IT IS THE LEAST I CAN DO AFTER MY ATTEMPTS TO CAPTURE YOU. I…I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BELIEVING YOU AT FIRST."

"No, I can understand. I probably would've done the same if I were in your position. Which reminds me…" she scratched behind her ear. "I had a conversation with Sans earlier today, and I…kind of freaked out, so…could you do me another favor and tell your brother that I'm sorry about that?"

The skeleton nodded. "I WILL."

* * *

 ** _Sans:_** _sup guys_

 ** _Alphys:_** _Hi_

 ** _Undyne:_** _Hey_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Hello._

 ** _Sans:_** _its times like this that im thankful i can text to multiple people at once_

 ** _Alphys:_** _Why's that?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Oh Sans, I forgot to inform you of Frisk's departure from the Ruins._

 ** _Undyne:_** _What? Frisk?_

 ** _Alphys:_** _What?_

 ** _Sans:_** _dont worry tori. i talked to her_

 ** _Toriel:_** _You know that it is her?_

 ** _Undyne:_** _Yeah what's going on here!_

 ** _Alphys:_** _Is it our Frisk?_

 ** _Undyne:_** _You forgot to tell us too!_

 ** _Toriel:_** _I did! I am so sorry!_

 ** _Sans:_** _calm down guys. theres a bit of a problem_

 ** _Undyne:_** _What does that mean?!_

 ** _Sans:_** _pretty sure its frisk but she doesnt remember much_

 ** _Alphys:_** _What doesn't she remember?_

 ** _Sans:_** _her time in the underground when she was seven_

 ** _Sans:_** _shes been getting some flashes but thats it_

 ** _Undyne:_** _We gotta help her remember then!_

 ** _Sans:_** _be careful if you do. she freaked out today_

 ** _Toriel:_** _What? Is everything all right?_

 ** _Alphys:_** _What do you mean freak out?_

 ** _Alphys:_** _Where is she now?_

 ** _Sans:_** _i dont know if shes ok but at least she remembers some stuff i think_

 ** _Sans:_** _i think shes about to go to waterfalls_

 ** _Alphys:_** _What happened exactly?_

 ** _Sans:_** _i had a conversation with her at grillbys. accidently pushed her. got somethin to apologize for_

 ** _Undyne:_** _What did you do!?_

 ** _Undyne:_** _Punk_

 ** _Sans:_** _told her why paps is sad. asked her if she blamed him. she got mad. bad memory sparked. lost appetite and left_

 ** _Sans:_** _dont worry ill apologize_

 ** _Undyne:_** _You better_

 ** _Sans:_** _hold up_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Sans? Are you there?_

 ** _Undyne:_** _Hey Sans what's going on?_

 ** _Alphys:_** _…_ _I think he's gone_

 ** _Undyne:_** _Toriel what made you forget to tell us?_

 ** _Undyne:_** _You going to tell Asgore and Asriel now?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Wait._

 ** _Toriel:_** _I am unsure as to how they would react if they heard of Frisk's arrival. Given their history with the child, the knowledge of her presence may have a negative effect on them. Especially Asriel._

 ** _Alphys:_** _What do you mean?_

 ** _Undyne:_** _You're scared that they'll be scared of her?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _She does not remember much yet, but if the memories of her battles with them return, she may start fearing them._

 ** _Toriel:_** _Asriel will in all likelihood be anxious for her arrival to see if she can remember having forgiven him. So will Asgore._

 ** _Alphys:_** _But they need to know! How'd they react if she just walked into the castle out of nowhere?!_

 ** _Undyne:_** _It would probably be worse_

 ** _Toriel:_** _That is a good point._

 ** _Sans:_** _sorry bout that. paps came home. seems happy_

 ** _Sans:_** _pretty sure he just encountered frisk_

 ** _Sans:_** _whats this about not telling asriel n asgore?_

 _ **Undyne:**_ _Read the rest. Not going to repeat it_

 _ **Undyne:**_ _Not done talking bout it either._

* * *

"sup, kid."

Frisk turned around, tearing her gaze from the beautiful view that presented itself in front of her. She was surprised to see Sans behind her, but her surprise was quickly replaced with guilt as she remembered the incident at Grillby's.

"Hey, Sans," she spoke. "How are ya?"

"pretty good, actually. my bro just came home in a good mood – the kind he hadn't had in years. apparently…" the skeleton's eye sockets narrowed slightly. "a long lost friend just cheered him up a bit…"

Frisk sighed. "Yeah, about that…" she said. "About what happened in the restaurant…"

"grillby's."

"Right, that one. I, ah, have something to apologize for. My reaction wasn't the most…professional one. And when I was done yelling at you, I just left you there to pay for my uneaten burger."

"don't say that, kid. i should be the one apologizing for asking… _that_. 'sides, i was gonna pay for the burger anyway."

"No, really…"

" _yes_ , really," Sans interrupted. "what happened back there wasn't your fault. speaking of which…" his expression turned into a questioning one. "…what _did_ happen back there? a memory spike or somethin'?"

"Yeah…I don't know much," the Human admitted. "Saying that thing with absorbing your Souls was…I don't know…reflexive? Guess I'm already getting memories back about whatever happened." She sighed. "If that's the case, I'm really not looking forward to future memories."

Sans' face showed sympathy upon hearing that. "hey, cheer up, kid. they can't be that bad…"

"I hope you're right," Frisk mumbled. "That shit back there was bad enough."

A silence fell, giving the skeleton some time to think about whether he should inform her of the texting conversation he had with Toriel, Alphys and Undyne a minute or so ago. Maybe letting Frisk hear Asriel's name would allow her to remember a bit more, but would she be able to take it? The memories of their fight? But if he didn't tell her, she'd get them back eventually, probably at a time and place where Sans wouldn't be able to help if she got a panic attack.

What would Tori do…

What would anyone else with a little bit of mercy do? Would Alphys and Undyne tell her about the prince if Sans didn't? Would they tell the prince about her?

"You okay?"

The skeleton quickly filled his eyes with empty glee when Frisk suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts.

"yeah, sure. why?"

"You looked like you were in deep thought just now," the Human replied.

Sans, who was thankful that she didn't seem to notice the lack of authenticity of his grin, shrugged.

"no, i'm _crate_."

"Y'know, maybe that would've been funny if there was a crate somewhere around here."

"you mean in our _radius_?"

"Was that a pun too? Just so we're clear, I don't know every friggin' name of every bone in the Human body."

Sans chuckled. "maybe you should be more _stern_ um if you want the puns to stop."

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about. 'Sides, if even Papyrus wasn't stern enough to make you stop, how am I going to pull it off?"

They laughed a bit, with Sans already starting to feel better. That quickly left, however, when he thought about the problem he had been thinking about moments ago again.

He still wasn't sure what to do…

"Hey Sans, I gotta go," Frisk said. "You know if there's anything dangerous up ahead?"

"uh, I think you need to pass through some watery areas, but that's about it," the skeleton absentmindedly mumbled. "though i also think you should keep a lookout for some monsters."

"…why's that?" Frisk asked.

"nothin' serious, but there _is_ a bunch of weirdos out there. aaron will probably try to have you date him. woshua will try to clean you…"

"Alright, stop there. I don't think I want to know the rest. Thanks for the warning, though."

Sans chuckled again. "you're welcome."

The Human gave him a nod and then walked away, the skeleton's happy look dropping once she was out of sight.

* * *

Sans hadn't been joking when he talked about those watery areas: Frisk had to walk through several spots of deep water, some of which weren't exactly clean. Fortunately, she could avoid getting wet at times with the help of the amazing 'Bridge Seeds', which allowed her to build temporary bridges (hence the name) over pools.

The Waterfalls _did_ look amazing: Frisk couldn't describe exactly why it was so appealing to her, but it seemed like a good place to just sit down and think while enjoying the area's beauty.

A downside was that some Monsters in the area were rather…bothersome. Along with the usual weird looks and requests to let them take her to Asgore, Frisk encountered several others who wanted something else; exactly what Sans told her before she left.

The worst one was some kind of muscular seahorse – which turned out to be the Aaron Sans mentioned – who had no problems flirting with her. Frisk's attempts to deter him proved to backfire right in her face: he only gained motivation to continue. Eventually he left her alone, claiming he had to do something. He gave her a parting wink before swimming away.

Relieved, the Human moved on, and after finally managing to get past what seemed to be a maze – albeit a nice-looking one – she began to hear a faint music in the distance that echoed through the corridor she was currently in.

She tilted her head to catch more of the sound, finding it strangely mesmerizing…and familiar.

She stood there for a minute or so before deciding to move on in the direction she had been heading to, which also happened to bring her closer to the source of the music.

What could it be? It was probably just a Monster playing an instrument or something, nothing too special. It was the tune itself that made her pick up her pace more and more before she found herself jogging towards it, eager to know what it meant.

She stopped when she entered a small open area, which at first glance seemed random and insignificant. There were no noteworthy things, with the exception of…was that a statue of a goat holding an umbrella?

It looked rather forlorn: aside from the horns on its head, it had a humanoid appearance. A ray of what looked like sunlight that reminded Frisk of the Ruins shone on it from directly above, illuminating the droplets of water that fell on the umbrella the statue was holding.

The music…it came from that statue! Why? How'd that work? Did someone put a music box in it or somethin'?

Regardless, despite the tune's catchiness, it gave Frisk an emotion that wasn't easily identified…was it sadness? No, it was deeper than that…

…

She suddenly felt something on her cheek…something wet that wasn't rain.

She blinked, put a hand to her cheeks, and traced the liquid back to her eyes.

She inhaled deeply in disbelief. What had caused her to cry? That wasn't something she'd do easily! She hadn't cried in…

Shocked, she backed away from the statue. She stood there for a second, frozen, listening to the tune that ceaselessly played. She blinked again before suddenly doing the one thing she could think of: run away.

The tune faded quickly, though it continued in her head as she sprinted away at top speed from its source. She ignored the pouring rain that fell down on her in the following area, the puddles it had formed on the ground, the stars (?) in the sky and the floating castle in the distance. She had to get away. away from whatever just caused her to do…that.

The Human only stopped when she nearly ran into a wall, causing her to panic at first before realizing that the music was gone; this allowed her to calm down, steady her breathing and think about what just happened.

She fully regained her senses when the first two things were done. When that happened, she gave an exasperated sigh and her expression turned into a scowl.

"Friggin' memories," she grumbled.

* * *

After using her acrobatic skills to run up and get over the wall – which turned out to be a ledge – she continued her journey in a significantly slower pace. The running from before had made her tired, and she still hadn't fully regained her sanity after what happened at the statue. She also made a mental note to inform Sans that he was wrong: these memories _are_ that bad. The worst part was that she wasn't sure if it'd stop here: what if she'd regain another memory that triggered such a reaction? This one was the worst she had had so far, and the fear it induced her with was…unpleasant.

Still exasperated, the Human went through another maze – aside from seemingly being suspended in the air, this one was far, _far_ bigger than the last one, despite its lack of walls – after which she came across what initially appeared as a dead end. However, if one were to look closer, one would notice that below the dead end, the path continued…and that there were familiar yellow flowers (Frisk mentally winced) down there that would likely save you from a long, deadly fall.

"Well, shit…" the Human mumbled. "Do I have to go down there?"

If only she had a way to contact Sans. He'd probably know what to do.

She sighed. "Well, here goes nothing."

She jumped.

Her mind could only just keep up with her as she fell, initially not feeling the air running up her body as the distance between her and the ground became less and less.

* * *

"Hu…man…wa…ke…up…"

A stern voice echoed through the emptiness.

"Wake…up…lit…tle…punk…"

A faint ray of light made its way through the darkness.

"Kid…swear…will…mess you up.

"Get…up…"

Frisk slowly opened her eyes, the fog that enveloped her mind beginning to fade a bit. The Human blinked a few times before moving her head slightly to the right, not even flinching when she saw the shadow that loomed over her.

"Wake up, kid!"

 _'_ _Kid'? The only person I know who calls me that is…_

 _No, this doesn't sound like Sans._

"Oi!"

The shadow also didn't look like Sans. It seemed taller and more feminine.

The figure moved and Frisk felt a foot hit her ribs. It wasn't with enough force to make it hurt, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't unpleasant. She groaned in response and fully opened her eyes to see who this was.

There, a Monster stood over her, giving her a glare that wasn't potent enough to fully hide their worrying. She – the Monster was definitely female – appeared to be a piscine, anthropomorphic being with blue scales and a red ponytail, as well as menacingly sharp yellow teeth. Her left eye was replaced with an eyepatch, and she was wearing a black tanktop and jeans.

"Get up," the Monster said as she held out a hand. Frisk reluctantly took it and pulled herself up into a sitting position. At least, that was her plan; the anthropomorphic fish pulled the Human to her feet with little effort, all the while glaring down at her.

"Uh…thanks," Frisk mumbled as she dizzily attempted to keep her balance.

"How did you think that jumping down like that was a good idea?! You're lucky you didn't break both your legs!"

"Well, I didn't really have anywhere else to go," the Human absentmindedly mumbled, still trying to stand on both her feet without falling over.

"You didn't think it'd be a better idea to just, oh I don't know, find a safe way down?!" the unidentified Monster reprimanded. "There's a difference between bravery and stupidity, kid."

"I know, I know," Frisk replied, annoyed. "Save your breath, I didn't know this would happen, I won't do it again, etcetera, etcetera. Name's Frisk, by the way."

"Yeah, we've been expecting you. Though we thought you'd be smarter than… _this_."

The Human sighed and glared, finally having fully regained her balance, but didn't retort.

"Who told you I was coming?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Sans did."

Frisk let out a chuckle. "Of course."

"You really don't remember, huh…"

The Human looked at the other person, suddenly a bit tense. "What?"

The Monster spread her arms. "Come on, Frisk! You don't remember Undyne?! Head of the Royal Guard?! Or at least I used to be…" she paused. "Like, you always called me 'Ms. Undyne'. Kind of like you did with Asgore and Alphys."

Another growl automatically escaped Frisk's throat as she felt her anger and annoyance gain slightly more potency. Undyne fell silent and gave the Human a weird look.

"Alright, look," Frisk said. "I just had a bit of a panic attack. Why? 'Cause I got one of them memories back. Not a fun experience. So _stop_ trying to give them to me: them coming back on their own is bad enough. Now…" she walked past the Monster. "Can I get out of here? Please?"

Undyne sighed. "Sure, whatever, but I'll have to come with you."

"Why?"

"Your next stop is Hotland. I live there with Alphys and I was just about to go home."

Frisk blinked. "Then…what are you doing here?"

"We…knew you were in trouble, so I went to get you out of it."

"How'd you know—"

"There's a camera somewhere 'round here that Alphys is watching."

"What? Why?"

"There are cameras all over the Underground, 'cause Alphys needs to know if a Human falls down."

"…right," the Human mumbled, suddenly feeling uncomfortable now that she knew she had been observed this whole time.

* * *

After passing through a garbage dump, an open place with multiple houses, water, puzzles and general other stuff, the duo finally reached a huge mountain that cast a shadow over their heads. The path lead to the inside of said mountain, which was accessible through a huge hole.

"This is pretty much the entrance to Hotland," Undyne explained. "I hate it there, so I usually just stay indoors."

"Why do you live here if you hate it?" Frisk asked.

Undyne's face gained a minor blush. "My house was destroyed recently, and I have nowhere else to go."

"How long ago was 'recently'?"

Undyne gave the Human a glance. "Nine years."

* * *

 ** _Toriel:_** _Asgore._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Howdy!_

 ** _Toriel:_** _I need to inform you of something._

 ** _Asgore:_** _What is it, Tori?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _A Human has fallen into the Ruins._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Well…I certainly did not expect that._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Have they shown any signs of hostility?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _No. In fact, I believe we may know this child._

 ** _Asgore:_** _What do you mean?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Think, Asgore. Who is the only Human we have ever truly known?_

 ** _Asgore:_** _Frisk?_

 ** _Asgore:_** _Is she back?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Yes, it is her. However, her memory of her previous time in the Underground has been erased._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Why?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _I am unsure._

 ** _Toriel:_** _She did regain some memories, however, some of which returned just before she left the Ruins._

 ** _Asgore:_** _She left?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Yes. I allowed her to._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Where is she now?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _I do not know, but I must ask you to stay away from her for now._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Why? I care about her._

 ** _Toriel:_** _If she sees you, it is possible that she will fear you. She knows what you attempted to do nine years ago._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Right…_

 ** _Asgore:_** _I should tell our son about Frisk's arrival, then._

 ** _Toriel:_** _Wait!_

 ** _Toriel:_** _If he finds out that she returned with no memory, he may become anxious._

 ** _Toriel:_** _I waited with informing you for that very reason._

 ** _Asgore:_** _But what if she returned without any warning?_

 ** _Asgore:_** _That would be worse._

 ** _Toriel:_** _Just remain silent for now._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Perhaps we should tell him carefully._

 ** _Toriel:_** _Just wait._

 _ **Toriel:**_ _For now._

* * *

 **Yes, Papyrus can use Gaster Blasters. Yes, he can use nonlethal versions of them too.**


	6. Old friends left and right

**Darke Zombie:** _I'm glad you understand. I was afraid that most people wouldn't, but this puts my mind to rest. Thank you._

 **I'm back! The postponement took shorter than I thought.**

 **I'm sorry to say that Alphys, Undyne and Muffet don't really get a lot of appearances here, but in the game Undyne usually chased you, Alphys talked to you over the phone, Muffet was a more minor character and Mettaton…well…did what he did, so I wasn't sure how to extend their appearances without delaying the plot too much.**

 **Also, I don't think I'm that good at writing them. Sorry. Same goes for Mettaton.**

* * *

 _Chapter six: Old friends left and right _

"I can see why you don't like this place," Frisk commented as she took off her jacket and hung it over her shoulder. "I'm sweating already."

She and Undyne had only just entered Hotland, where the stony ground they stood on protected them from falling into the lava that could be seen meters below. Currently, the two were just walking on the path to wherever Undyne was leading them, remaining silent for the majority of the time as the intense heat made them sweat like never before.

"Alphys has air conditioning in her lab," Undyne mentioned. "It's not far now, it's right there."

She pointed to a large, white, cube-shaped structure that could be seen at the other side of the path. Besides the double sliding door with the word 'LAB' written above it and some minor stuff like pipes that stuck out of the walls, there didn't seem extremely special. Of course, that wasn't to say that it blended in well with the surrounding area: even a beacon would've been less obvious.

Once they were close enough, the sliding doors opened. Undyne walked in first before calling out to whoever was running the place – probably Alphys.

"We're here~!"

Frisk followed her into the lab and was immediately met with the effects of a powerful air conditioning system, much to her relief. Immediately after, another Monster appeared from an escalator to her left and made her way to Undyne.

"U-Undyne! Are you okay? Do you need—" the Monster – it appeared to be a female anthropomorphic yellow lizard – froze when she saw Frisk behind Undyne, who gave a polite salute.

"I'm good, Alph, thanks," the fish woman replied. "I'd like you to meet Frisk. Again."

"O-oh, r-right…ahem," Alphys stammered. "F-Frisk, um…I-I assume y-you don't remember me…?"

"Hate to say it, but no; I don't remember." She gave Alphys a questioning look. "You don't happen to know why that is, do you?"

"Uh…n-no, s-sorry…a-a-although i-it may have been…a…side-effect? From the Barrier? Maybe?" Alphys briefly averted her gaze as her nervousness appeared to increase. "Uh…I…uh…"

She looked at Undyne, who pensively looked back.

"U-Undyne," the lizard lady whispered. "Th-the test!"

The fish woman's eyes widened a bit. "Oh, right." She turned to Frisk. "Hey, kid…

"You mind if we – or just Alphys, really – do some blood tests? You know, just to make sure…uh…" she glanced at Alphys, who shrugged. "Uh…just to make sure you don't have any…like …allergies?"

"…why?" Frisk asked, unsure.

"I-it's about…" Alphys spoke up. "Uh. T-to make sure. You're. Um. _Our_. Frisk?" She looked at the ground.

"Right…" the Human muttered. "Alright, why not. I'm kind of curious myself, anyway."

The lizard perked up. "O-okay! J-just! Hold on a moment! I-I'll get! My equipment!"

And with that, she was gone.

Frisk looked at Undyne, confused. The Monster simply looked back. "Got somethin' on your mind?"

"No…" Frisk replied. She paused. "Or yes, actually. I think…"

Undyne raised an eyebrow.

"…what's this between you and Alphys?" Frisk eventually asked.

"Oh, right…uh, yeah…" Undyne scratched her head in mild nervousness and smiled. "You know about that, do you? Yeah, we've been together for…nine years. All thanks to you, I guess."

"I…think I'm starting to remember…" the Human pensively muttered.

The silence that followed was quickly broken by Alphys, who returned with a whole bag of what Frisk assumed was the necessary equipment.

"H-hey…" she shyly smiled. "U-um…you ready…?"

"Go ahead," Frisk sighed. "As long as I won't need a respirator after this."

Alphys chuckled, reached in the bag and pulled out a needle. "Heh…d-don't worry. Y-you'll be a-alright." She pointed at a nearby chair. "Y-you. Um. Might want to sit down, t-though."

A proper blood extraction procedure followed after which the scientist gave the samples to Undyne, who went upstairs to store it. Alphys then turned back to Frisk.

"N-now…" she said. "I-I just need to do some t-tests on it b-before I-I know for sure. Th-that might take a while. Th-though n-not too long."

"Eh," Frisk indifferently voiced. "I'm a patient person. Sometimes." She stood up. "Anything else I should know?"

"O-oh, you-you're leaving already?" Alphys stuttered.

"Yeah!" Undyne grinned as she came down the escalator. "We were just getting used to your company!"

The Human rolled her eyes. "Look, it's kind of confusing to be here with people I used to know before I became an amnesiac. Trust me, I'd love to stay, but every time a big and important memory comes back, I break down for some friggin' reason. It's already happened…three times, I think?"

"Th-three times?" the lizard incredulously asked. "Wh-when?"

"Ah…once in the Ruins, when I got scared of Toriel."

"Scared of Toriel, huh?" Undyne chuckled. "No, that's normal!"

Frisk let out a chuckle as well, while Alphys tried to keep her own amusement at bay.

"U-Undyne!" she scolded. "D-don't! Say that! What if someone hears us!?"

"A-anyway," Frisk spoke up before an argument could arise. "Uh…the second time was when I went with Sans to Grillby's."

"Right, we heard about that!" the fish woman said. "Sans told us over the phone."

"Guess I don't really need to explain, then," the Human assumed. Alphys shook her head.

"Ye-yeah, we-we already. K-kind of. Know wh-what happened. Kind of…"

Undyne nodded. "So…I'm guessing the third time this happened was when you jumped into that abyss-of-almost-broken-legs. The one where I found you?"

"Wrong," Frisk simply said. "My third…incident…happened just before that. It felt like…the worst one so far."

"Wh-what happened?" the scientist asked.

"Well…"

As soon as that first word crossed her lips, she stopped, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She thought back to the goat statue. The rain, the ray of light, the umbrella…

…the music…

She suddenly began to sweat. She barely noticed.

It was…disturbing.

"Frisk?"

Frisk looked up, suddenly feeling uncomfortable…

…and the _instant_ the Monsters entered her view, the vision of a blue spear being hurled her way swam before her eyes.

The Human flinched visibly and reflexively backed up in the chair. The Monsters blinked and shared a worried glance.

"Frisk…?" Undyne began.

Frisk sat frozen for a moment, her mind still working on realizing that it was just another memory. In spite of that, she remained tense as she looked up at the fish woman.

"…you can throw magical spears," she said with a failed deadpan, her trembling voice betraying her nervousness.

The two others relaxed and sighed. Alphys spoke.

"Y…you scared me th-there…for a moment."

Frisk chuckled. "Sorry."

The trio slowly calmed down over the next minutes, as they exchanged information about the last nine years. Apparently, not much had changed since the last time Frisk found herself in the Underground. Aside from Asriel – the king's son – having mysteriously reappeared and the damaged relationship between Toriel and Asgore having enjoyed some improvements, the majority of matters had stayed the same. Although some subjects about the past had become more difficult to talk about (like the Humans Asgore killed), and Papyrus had never been fully the same after Frisk's disappearance.

The Human sighed a bit at that last part, still feeling sorry for the jolly tall skeleton. She only hoped she had managed to convince him that whatever happened wasn't his fault.

She eventually looked at the clock and saw that they had been talking for what she considered to be long enough, prompting her to get up from the chair and grab her jacket.

"I should probably go," she said. "Don't want to keep Asgore waiting."

"W-wait," Alphys spoke up. "Th-there were some o-other people y-you met around here!"

"Who?" Frisk asked.

"We-well, th-there was Mettaton…and…Muffet too!"

"Can you point me in the right direction?"

* * *

 _Great idea. I just came all the way to meet a lady who lives in Hotland's darkest place. Fantastic._

As Frisk entered the…location where Alphys had sent her to, the Human couldn't help but get chills down her spine as she looked into the inky black nothingness that surrounded her. The small bits of light that came from who-knows-where were only good for illuminating the many spider webs that were hanging on the walls and ceiling, making the atmosphere all the more unsettling.

 _Who is this person, a bat?_

 _"_ _Ahuhuhuhu."_

Frisk froze when she heard an eerie giggle coming from seemingly nowhere.

 _"_ _Well, well…sounds like the rumors are at least partially true._

 _"_ _A Human has fallen into the Underground…but is it really the same Human from nine years ago?"_

"Who's there?" Frisk called.

 _"_ _Is that you, dearie~?"_

"I dunno, show yourself, will you?"

 _"_ _Ahuhuhu…whatever you say, dearie~."_

Then, mere meters to the Human's left, an enormous spider web was illuminated by an unknown light source. On the web, another (presumably female) Monster stood, watching Frisk with a smirk.

Given the six arms (and two legs), the Monster was obviously a spider, albeit one with five eyes visible, two red ribbons in her black hair, one on her chest and wearing a red outfit. She used her extra limbs to carry a bunch of teacups and –pots.

"Do you remember me now, dearie~?" she asked.

Frisk – who felt condescended to – tilted her head to the right until she felt her neck crack, making the spider lady flinch slightly.

"Sorry," the Human emptily apologized. "I have a bit of a memory problem. Don't ask why or how."

The lady giggled. "Ah, of course. The rumors said something about amnesia. Well then, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Muffet, I am a member of this spider clan. And you…"

"I'm Frisk," Frisk replied with slight reluctance. "We met last time I was here?"

Muffet nodded. "We did. You were so adorable back then, I almost regret having tried to take your Soul…"

The Human winced a bit at that, but kept her composure. "Eh. I'm pretty sure ninety percent of the people I came across down here wanted me dead, so…"

The spider lady giggled again. "Ah well…I don't suppose I can convince you to buy a delicious snack?" She immediately grabbed a purple/pink donut from somewhere in the wall of darkness next to her and presented it to Frisk. "A spider donut? Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders! Only 9999 Gold~."

The Human blinked, suddenly getting yet another familiar vibe. Her mind initially went to the spider bake sale in the Ruins, but she was pretty sure the snacks there weren't that expensive. Something like this had happened before.

"Stupid-ass memories…" she muttered before looking back at Muffet. "Uh, I'll have to decline, thanks. I'm not really hungry."

 _Nor do I have any money…_

All eyes on Muffet's face narrowed. "Is that so? You think your taste is too refined for our pastries, dearie~?"

"No, I don't," Frisk denied, somehow remaining perfectly calm. "I'm just not hungry is all."

The spider lady's face retained its suspicious look. "Hmmm…"

"Also, I don't really have any Gold."

Upon hearing that, Muffet regained her 'friendly' demeanor. "Oh, in that case…well, there is little we can do, is there?"

The Human let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"I will be happy to point you to where you can gain some money~," Muffet happily said. "I heard there are some job offerings around here~."

"Thanks, but no." Frisk forced a smile. "I'd like to get my memory back first. And to do that, the next person I have to meet is…uh…I think his name was…Mettaton?"

The spider lady froze before giving a nod. "Right…Mettaton…" She gestured to another entrance. "Yes…apparently, he's been expecting you."

"…really?"

"I suppose Dr. Alphys informed him."

"They know each other?" Frisk asked.

Muffet gave the Human a surprised look. "Know each other? Why, Dr. Alphys made Mettaton. His body, at least."

Frisk blinked. "What, like, a synthetic body?"

"No…a robotic one."

"He's a robot?"

"Physically, yes. Didn't Dr. Alphys tell you this?"

"Nope. She just told me his name."

"Huh…" the spider lady mumbled. "Well, you better get going, dearie~. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting~."

"Right," Frisk said. "Nice to meet you. Again. See you later."

She walked towards the entrance Muffet had pointed to, when she felt herself being gently grabbed by the arm. She looked to her side and saw that it was Muffet herself who had stopped her, giving her an almost depressed look.

"Before you go, dearie~," she said with a far more serious tone. "I must warn you of something…"

"I'll come back and buy a spider donut sometime," the Human immediately said. But Muffet shook her head.

"It's not that. It's…Mettaton."

"What about him?"

"I hear he has plans of including you in his show if you were to pass through the area."

Frisk gave a questioning look. "His show?"

"Yes. His show is _the_ show in the Underground. He dances, sings, keeps his watchers up to date about certain things. If you're not comfortable in front of crowds or cameras…"

"I'll be fine. Thanks for the heads-up," the Human replied as she gently released herself from the spider lady's grip.

"Well, if you have any preparations to make, you should make them here and now," Muffet informed. "His stage is just outside."

* * *

Once outside, Frisk let out a sigh of relief. _Well, that was pretty creepy,_ she thought. _Thanks, Alphys._

She continued walking away from the cave (if it really was one) while thinking about how in the world she was going to obtain 9999 Gold; she didn't want to get on Muffet's bad side, even if the price was so incredibly ridiculous. Maybe she could get some help from 'old friends'.

Because of the deep thoughts the Human found herself in, she failed to notice the poster that hung on the wall to her left…displaying a silhouette of what seemed to be a tall humanoid.

Had she looked at it, she might've regained some more memories…

Suddenly, a voice boomed from the path ahead of her, forcing her mind back to reality. It sounded normal for the most part, if a bit…robotic?

"Oooooh, yes! Welcome, beauties…to today's show, featuring a guest we've all been waiting for…"

Frisk looked up as soon as the voice reached her ears, and saw a figure standing several meters in front of her. It was surrounded by clouds of smoke, the type one often sees during a rock concert. Despite the smoke majorly obscuring her vision, the Human was able to see a stage underneath the mysterious figure's feet.

The figure didn't seem to be facing her, and Frisk soon discovered that it had its gaze aimed at a multitude of cheering and clapping Monsters.

Once the smoke had cleared up, the performer was sufficiently visible for the Human to feel another sting of recognition.

Frisk made sure she couldn't be seen by the cheering crowd, but there wasn't much she could use to hide from the figure itself. When the smoke would be entirely gone, she would definitely appear in its peripheral vision – unless it looked her way, then it'd be even worse. All she could do was stay still and silent to the best of her ability.

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen…" the figure – it was definitely a male, and a tall one at that – mysteriously went on. "Our guest…I can see her from here, and I wonder…what does and what doesn't she remember?"

 _Wait…_

"Does she remember the relationships she built all those years ago?"

 _Is he talking about me? Did he see me?_

"Does she remember the glory of our battle?"

 _He better not have seen me._

"Does she remember… _me_?" The figure clasped his heart. "Oh my…I don't know if I can take it if she doesn't…because if she doesn't remember me…she can't have remembered anything else, can she?!"

 _Alright, just stay still. Maybe I'm just being paranoid._

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Mettaton, and I bring you…"

 _Stay. Still._

But Frisk's hopes were in vain when the figure suddenly looked her way with a grin, gesturing with his hands in the same direction.

"…the Human!"

Lights flashed and more smoke entered the stage as the crowd once again exploded in cheers, claps and screams. Frisk could only stand there, frozen, watching as Mettaton gave her an encouraging nod and signaled for her to come onstage.

Time slowed down as the Human's mind worked to process this situation.

She didn't like to be in front of crowds and/or cameras. She didn't want the attention. It was something she had always had a negative sentiment for…but she didn't feel like she had a choice in the matter. If she ran, reaching Asgore's castle was going to take even longer than it already did. In addition, Mettaton and the other Monsters would likely call her a coward for fleeing, and that was something she wouldn't look forward to.

She sighed and hesitated before stepping onstage, causing the already loud cheering to intensify. She gave a shy nod to the public – whose sound production increased even more as a result – before walking to stand next to Mettaton, who welcomed her with a smile.

Once the crowd had calmed down a bit, the sentient robot spoke up again.

"Welcome, Frisk! Dr. Alphys told me you were coming. And…your blood test is positive! Now…" he gestured behind them. "…why don't we take a seat in these chairs my cousin so kindly placed behind us mere seconds ago."

Frisk was amazed to see that two chairs had indeed been placed where Mettaton said they would be, and did as he had advised. As she sat down, she took another look at the crowd (and the cameras that hung above it), causing her to sweat a bit more. She quickly looked back at Mettaton, who was looking at the crowd with a charming smile.

"Now…" he said, prompting the leftover noise from the public to be silenced. "Many people have practically begged me to ask certain things to the Human if she were to arrive." He then turned his gaze to Frisk. "So…my first question for you, Frisk…how are you doing today?"

Chuckles could be heard from the crowd. The Human smiled a bit herself.

"That's…a good question," she replied, causing the chuckles to increase.

"Understandable," Mettaton said. "Your apparent amnesia has been making things difficult, hasn't it?"

"Won't deny that."

"Right. Therefore, I hope you don't mind answering the questions I'm sending your way now."

Frisk mentally sighed. This was probably going to take a while.

She nodded.

"Excellent!" the robot exclaimed. "Now, I have a whole list of questions from several Monsters, but because there are so many, I'll only ask you the most frequently asked ones. You ready?"

"Go ahead," the Human reluctantly said.

"Alright. The second – and most popular – question is…what _do_ you currently remember from your last visit to the Underground?"

"Bits and pieces, mostly," Frisk answered. "Some things I see feel familiar. Same with some people."

"Have you gained any…solid memories?"

"A few. But…getting them back isn't what I'd call a pleasant experience."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know, it just is. I'm getting panic here and there."

"Panic attacks?" Mettaton briefly looked at the crowd. "That's…bad, but understandable. You've been attacked a lot last time."

"Yeah, I noticed that…"

Chuckles.

"Right…so, moving on to the next question…what has your life on the Surface been like so far?"

The Human froze. That was _the_ subject she didn't want to talk about. Her life on the Surface wasn't exactly…good. She never really had a lot of friends at the orphanage she lived in. She was fine with the fact that nobody wanted her as a foster daughter – even if that was a little depressing – but since the law stated that she'd have to stay at that place until she was eighteen, she knew she wasn't going to be free from the ghosts of her past anytime soon.

She swallowed. "No comment."

"Please, darling…" Mettaton leaned forward in his chair, towards her. "Please answer the question for the sake of the show…and for the sake of keeping our current amount of viewers." He added with an amused smirk.

Frisk shot him a brief glare before sighing. "Alright. I'll tell you the most major things in chronological order.

"When I was two years old, my parents died. I don't remember them or anything about them. I was sent to an orphanage, where I never really got any friends. Some people avoided me, just 'cause I was a bit of a loner.

"I must've been around seven when I fell into the Underground. About a year later, back on the Surface, I became a popular target for the local bullies. I wasn't much of a fighter back then, so it never actually stopped until I was fourteen, when I broke their leader's arm. This…persuaded…him and his gang to finally leave me alone, although my friend quantity remained stagnant."

The Human cracked her neck, the sound echoing through the now silent room. "I think that's about it."

She looked back at Mettaton, whose expression showed a slight bit of shock and alarm.

"R-right…" he said in a voice that didn't fit the confident demeanor he had moments ago. "Next question…"

He thought for a bit before continuing. "Do you remember why and how you left the Underground?"

"No, actually. I don't remember a lot, and have no idea what happened when I went back to the Surface." Frisk looked at the crowd. "Sorry to disappoint."

Soft laughter erupted.

"No one blames you," Mettaton, who had almost fully regained his relaxed attitude surprisingly quickly, mentioned. "Anyway, next question…

"Where are you headed, and why won't you let the other Monsters take you to the king?"

"Oh, that. Well, to be brief: I'm heading to the king's castle, and I won't let anyone take me because…reasons."

The robot raised an eyebrow. "What kind of reasons?"

"Want to get memories along the way. Don't appreciate being treated as mail. Plain stubbornness."

More chuckles at that last part.

"I see," Mettaton smiled. "Well, I'm willing to point you to the castle. IF!" He leaned forward in his chair again. "IF you let me ask you one last question."

Frisk shrugged. "Sure."

"Thank you," the robot said before turning to the public. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present to you…the Human's answer to what is argued to be the question of the universe…"

He paused and some lights on the stage flickered.

Tension rose…

…until Mettaton turned back to Frisk.

"Would you smooch a ghost?"

The crowd laughed as the lights calmed down, with Mettaton's grin widening. His grin, however, didn't last long, as Frisk's response consisted of a blink and her hand clutching her head.

She seemed…sick.

"Frisk?" the robot called while the crowd continued to guffaw. "Are you alright?"

The Human looked at him with eyes that didn't seem to have a complete grasp on reality. Her expression was confused, and her mind clearly wasn't working with her. Something was wrong.

"Frisk?" Mettaton repeated as he got up from his chair and took a step towards her.

"I'm fine," Frisk suddenly said, though her voice was a bit weak. "Just a bit…dizzy…"

The robot froze before letting out a relieved chuckle and sitting back in his chair, right when the laughter fully died down.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Mettaton called. "I'm afraid that if we let the Human answer this question, our greatest mystery will be solved. And what is a mystery…when it's solved? Maybe we will eventually know the truth. BUT!"

He paused again, allowing the atmosphere to once again gain some tension.

"Not today. The Human is currently on a quest of high importance; a quest with an ending I will no longer postpone. Therefore, I will allow her to go."

And with that, he and Frisk stood up and walked offstage, with the crowd screaming and shouting.

* * *

Once they were offstage, Mettaton immediately turned to the Human.

"Thanks for your…cooperation," he said. "I hope I didn't…scar you with those questions?"

Frisk shook her head. "No, just got some memories back at that last one. You asked me that before, didn't you?"

The robot nodded. "Yes. And that's what worries me: you started remembering me when I asked a question I asked nine years ago."

"Guess I have a habit of remembering small stuff or something," Frisk calmly said. "Anyway, can you point me in the right direction?"

"Why leave so soon, darling?" Mettaton asked. "Why the rush?"

"'Cause I want to meet Asgore as soon as I can. _Without_ being abducted."

"Heh…whatever you say, darling." He pointed to one of the paths that were connected to the intersection they were currently on. "If you go that way, you will come across MTT Resort. After that, there is the CORE: the main source of power for the Underground. Just beyond the entrance to the CORE, there's an elevator leading to a hallway with another elevator, which will lead you to New Home." He looked back at her. "That's about it."

The Human gave a smile. "Thanks, Met. See you later."

Mettaton smiled back and winked. "See ya, darling. I have a show to attend to."

And with that, he was gone.

* * *

 ** _Asgore:_** _Tori._

 ** _Asgore:_** _I need to tell you something._

 ** _Toriel:_** _What is it, Asgore?_

 ** _Asgore:_** _Have you seen Mettaton's show?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _You know I never do._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Asriel did._

 ** _Asgore:_** _It featured Frisk._

 ** _Asgore:_** _He has been acting a bit anxious since watching it._

 ** _Toriel:_** _Is he all right?_

 ** _Asgore:_** _He has been waiting near the corridor where Sans will judge Frisk for a while now._

 ** _Asgore:_** _I have spoken with him, but no success._

 ** _Asgore:_** _What should I do?_

 ** _Toriel:_** _Stay there. I will arrive as soon as I can._

 ** _Asgore:_** _Understood._

 ** _Asgore:_** _But given how close Frisk currently is to New Home, I doubt you will be there before she is._

 _ **Toriel:**_ _I know._

* * *

 **I'm not very content with this chapter. I feel like I wrote Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton and Muffet kind of shitty. I guess I'm not good at writing their respective personalities like they are in the game, so please forgive me for that. If you have tips, please share them with me.**

 **As a side note, some of you may still wonder how it is with the relationship between Asgore and Toriel. To answer your question(s) about it, it has improved a lot, although Toriel is still unsure if she's ready to forgive Asgore. The main reason why she stays in the Ruins is because she feels like it's her duty to guide any Humans that fall down.**

 **Oh, and…if you read my other stories, expect more possible postponements in the (near) future. I don't think this story will have them, though; we're almost at the end.**

 **Last but not least, have a nice day!**

 **~F**


	7. The final bosses

**JUST SO WE'RE CLEAR. I do NOT ship Frisk with anybody!**

 **I rarely really ship (as some of you might know), but I felt that this note here was necessary.**

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **~F**

* * *

 _Chapter seven: The final bosses_

It didn't take long to go through MTT Resort and reach the elevator at the CORE. Immediately after, Frisk went through the hallway Mettaton mentioned, entered the second elevator and clicked the button to go to New Home.

It was only when the elevator doors closed that she realized that this was it: that she was about to meet the king of Monsters. Asgore…judging from her memories and what she'd learned the last 24 hours, he was supposed to be her main would-be killer, even if he didn't really want to be. How was he going to react when he saw her? And possibly recognize her?

What would _she_ do if she saw _him_? How badly would her memories freak out like they had previously? How much of an impact would his appearance have on them?

Was she going to leave the Underground when her journey was over?

The elevator stopped. Its doors opened, revealing a gray-colored hallway leading to her left. She hesitated before nervously leaving the elevator, cautiously peeking around the corner beforehand.

Nothing.

She quickly and quietly went through the hallway, which made another turn to the left. She followed it and kept walking, still seeing nothing out of the ordinary…

…until she reached the part where the road split.

She gasped as she saw a magnificent view of a huge city – completely gray in color – in front of her. The buildings didn't seem to have the architecture she was used to: they appeared a lot more…medieval-ish. It was as if she was watching a 3D black and white photo of a large city in the Dark Ages or some fantasy world.

She looked at the two paths that now lay ahead of her. One led to another elevator, while the other was a bridge that went deeper into the city. The only notable thing Frisk could see of the latter was that it had yet another turn to the left; from there, it was obscured by the surrounding buildings.

The Human hesitated, but then made her choice of trying the elevator. Maybe it would lead to the city below her where someone could give her some more directions. She still didn't know which one of these buildings was the castle.

She stepped inside and pressed the buttons. The doors closed.

Frisk sighed, her nervousness telling her to just turn around and leave. She could always meet this guy at a later date. Why not hang out more with her friends? Maybe she could start remembering more about Asgore's personality. That would probably help.

The problem was that, since the entire Underground had seen her on TV, there was no turning back at this point. If she did, someone would want to take her there anyway. If she resisted, they may eventually use force. Besides, her subconscious yearning for answers (and maybe friends) overwhelmed her fear with relative ease.

She _couldn't_ turn back…

Frisk wasted no time getting out of the elevator once it stopped and its doors opened. She was met with a breeze of wind, and once again saw a view over the city. The bridge she was currently standing on didn't seem as high as the one she was at moments ago, but it was still pretty high.

She looked at it for a few more seconds before turning around and walking down the path she was facing. It was short and a bit narrow, and it took seconds before she went through the unidentified entrance at its end.

Said entrance brought her to a large, broad, yellow-colored hallway with pillars supporting the ceiling and stained glass windows that were bigger than Frisk herself. The silence that was present was the final component to create an atmosphere that inspired the Human with respect and awe, the likes of which she didn't feel often.

Once the corridor had filled her vision, Frisk immediately got a memory spark – this one far calmer and more foggy yet far more influential – that pretty much confirmed her suspicion that this was the castle.

She took a deep breath and started walking, the silence sending shivers down her spine as she knew that something important happened here last time. She didn't know what it was, but she knew… _that_ it was. The only thing she could do was see if it would happen again.

That's when a silhouette with a familiar shape suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere, facing her. She froze, but wasn't afraid. If anything, she felt…strangely solemn.

Outside, something that sounded like a church bell rang.

"So…" the figure said with an equally familiar voice. "You finally made it. Again.

"You made it to the king's castle for the second time. You will meet the king and his son in a few moments. Now…you will be judged, just like last time. You will be judged for your every action – for every EXP you've earned."

Something in the figure's eyes briefly glowed. "Do you remember what EXP is, Frisk?"

Some more memories returned.

 _Such a convenient timing._

The Human nodded. "EXP – execution points – show how much blood I have on my hands."

"That's right," the figure replied. "If you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases. What do you remember about LOVE?"

"Level of Violence," Frisk uneasily said. "It indicates how easily I can hurt others."

"That's correct. The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt…the more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others."

The figure then stepped out of the shadows, revealing who he was.

It was Sans.

"but you, kid…" he said. "just like last time, you never gained any LOVE. You have no blood on your hands. 'course, i s'pose it was a little easier with nobody trying to kill you, but…

"had any other human fallen down here, i don't dare think about how they'd react upon meeting a monster. i don't think that every human is evil, of course…but would they really have done what you did? even nine years ago, when you were constantly hunted…you refused to hurt anyone in any way. that's what made us realize how good some humans can be…

"now, i've kept you long enough. there are people you have to meet. people who have been waiting for your arrival…" Sans winked. "be seein' ya, kiddo."

Frisk gave a nod of respect in response, after which the skeleton vanished.

Then, at the end of the hallway, a second figure could be seen standing in the light…facing her.

It appeared to be an…anthropomorphic goat?

He – it was definitely a male – seemed to be around Frisk's age. Similarly to Toriel, he had visible fangs, droopy ears and bright white fur. His horns were longer than Toriel's, but his friendly face made him resemble her even more. He was wearing a green t-shirt in addition to black jeans.

He was frozen, his expression shocked as he looked at her. She didn't move either, afraid to…she wasn't sure…mess up a 'moment'?

A bit of relief went through her body when the guy spoke up.

"F-Frisk?"

His voice supported his possible status as a male teenager, but Frisk didn't reply. Suddenly feeling a sense of alarm, she subconsciously took a slow step backwards.

As a response, the unidentified young man took a step forward, in the Human's direction.

"D-don't you recognize me, Frisk?" he asked. "Y-you really don't remember…do you?"

Didn't she? Somehow, she connected him to what felt like the beginning of a darker memory she had lost. Also, he reminded her of the statue in the Waterfall area…

"I…I'm Asriel. Asriel Dreemurr?"

 _Asriel…Dreemurr…_

 _Asriel…_

That's when a flash of a huge, intimidating figure briefly appeared before her eyes, causing her to flinch.

 _The god of Hyperdeath._

"Oh, shit," Frisk muttered. Her breathing suddenly became unsteady as she backed away more.

"H-hey," Asriel said. "D-don't be scared, I…I'm not going to hurt you again, like I did when I was…" he trailed off, blinking away the tears that stung behind his eyes. "Y-you've been a great friend to me, even if I didn't know you for that long. You…you gave me my life back."

The Human didn't reply, but the goat Monster could tell he was getting through to her. He cautiously took another step her way.

"I-I know I didn't really leave good first impressions…" a humorless chuckle escaped his throat, "…but I'll make it up to you. That's a promise."

After taking a few more careful steps, Asriel looked at the slightly shorter person in front of him.

Frisk, not knowing what to do, awkwardly looked down, avoiding his gaze. There was silence for the next few seconds before the Monster took one last step, embracing her while doing so.

The Human was caught off-guard by the hug, her eyes widening a bit in surprise as she hesitantly raised her arms to return it, which she did shortly after.

They stayed like that for a while in more silence, with Frisk starting to feel some familiarity here while Asriel failed at holding his tears back, eventually letting a few flow down and fall on the Human's jacket. They broke the hug after what seemed to be far too short for such a unique reunion, with the goat man quickly wiping his eyes. Frisk was surprised to see this, and felt a sting of worry.

"You…okay?" she asked.

The Monster smiled and nodded, swiftly wiping one last tear away.

"Heh…" he chuckled. "S-sorry…I've always been a bit…prone to crying."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Frisk reassured after a brief pause. "It means you care."

Asriel smiled again, extremely relieved at the Human's friendly attitude. When he saw her on TV, the revelations she so coldly gave about her life on the Surface when Mettaton insisted, combined with her brief answers and obvious reluctance to be there made him think she'd grown unforgiving. And since she probably didn't remember having forgiven him last time…

"Asriel?" a voice called from behind him. "What is going on—"

The duo turned to the voice's source, where yet another goat Monster stood.

This one was a _lot_ taller than either of them, even exceeding Toriel's height. His shoulders were broad as well, and he had a blonde beard and hair, the latter of which appeared more like manes. His gold-colored suit of armor was mostly covered by his purple cape, which was decorated with golden pauldrons. A crown rested on his head, between the two massive goat horns that stuck out from underneath his hair.

Once he saw Frisk, he froze and gained a shocked look, similarly to what happened to Asriel moments ago.

Another silence fell…

…before the tall Monster ended it.

"How about we discuss matters over a nice cup of tea?" he suggested.

* * *

The trio silently walked out of the corridor to where Frisk came from. They then walked over the long bridge that followed, eventually reaching what appeared to be a hallway. After walking through that and up the stairs that stood at the hallway's end, Frisk nearly gasped.

They had walked into a house. The interior didn't have much color variation: it was the very same gray that covered the entire city. The only exceptions were the golden flowers that were present.

The thing that caught the Human's attention was that, aside from the gray, it looked like an exact copy of Toriel's house in the Ruins.

She looked at the two Monsters, who awkwardly looked back. "You know Toriel?" she asked before thinking.

"Yes, we do," Asgore replied, caught off-guard. "You…did not know?"

Frisk shook her head. "No. Though…I had a bit of a suspicion."

Asriel chuckled. "A suspicion? Where'd that come from I wonder?"

The Human gave the two a deadpan look as Asgore began to chuckle as well.

She felt embarrassment rise up, but was relieved that the tension in the air had dropped a bit. Her fear of formally meeting the king had also diminished, seeing how he gave the impression of a friendly, jovial guy, and since Asriel had only been showing kindness so far, the lingering anxiety the Human had been feeling after meeting him had also dissipated.

"Alright, guys," Frisk interrupted with a voice that matched her deadpan.

The two Monsters ceased their chuckling, but their amused grins didn't vanish.

"Right," the king spoke. "Anyway, what kind of tea would you two like?"

"I'll just take regular tea," Asriel said with some slight dryness in his voice.

Asgore looked at Frisk, who shrugged. "I'll…take the same, please."

"Aha!" the king called before pointing a finger at his son. "You can learn a lot from her, young one!"

And with that, he left for the kitchen, leaving Frisk confused and Asriel still grinning.

"…what was that all about?" the Human asked. The young goat man let out another chuckle.

"I forgot to say please. Unlike you."

"So he yelled at you because I said please," Frisk said. "I'd feel bad, but forgetting to say please _is_ kind of a crime."

Asriel's grin widened. "Heh. Yeah, I guess. Anyway, we should go after him. Dining area is that way."

The Human followed him through a doorway, revealing yet another copied part of Toriel's house. This one was, as Asriel said, the dining area, with another doorway that lead to the kitchen. Even the reading chair was present.

Asriel led her to the dining table, where they both sat down on the wooden chairs.

When Frisk looked at the young goat man, who looked back, she suddenly felt a powerful sadness, combined with an odd happiness wash over her. She remained silent as she kept staring, her mind trying to recover from the jolt of emotions.

Asriel blinked, suddenly worried. "Frisk?" he asked. "You okay? What's wrong?"

Frisk waited a second with her answer, thinking about what to say. Eventually, all that came out was a soft and depressed "nothing", to which the goat Monster frowned and shook his head.

"You can't suddenly get all depressed and tell me there's 'nothing'…" He hesitated for a bit before carefully continuing. "Was it a…memory?"

"…kind of," the Human admitted, closing her eyes and resting her head in her hand. "Not that much, but…" she trailed off.

Asriel sympathetically looked at her. He couldn't say he'd gone through the same ordeal as Frisk, though the memories he made during his time as a sentient, malevolent flower had given him some nightmares after he turned back into himself. No amnesia was involved, but the memories still haunted him to this day – albeit in a lesser degree than before – with little to no relent. Like Frisk, he had some bad experiences with memories from a previous life.

Though…maybe that could let him help her with her problem…

After a short while, Frisk removed her head from her hands, right when Asgore obliviously reentered the room with two cups of tea.

"Here you two go," he said as he gave the tea to the duo. "Careful. It is hot."

"Thank you," Frisk said as she grabbed her tea. Asriel did the same with his.

Asgore sat down with a cup of tea for himself and looked at the Human after taking a sip.

"So, Frisk…" he said. "How have you been doing the last nine years?"

Frisk chuckled humorlessly before replying. "Not good."

"Uh, yeah," Asriel cut in. "I…kind of saw Mettaton's show."

"Guess you know the full story, then," the Human said, looking at her reflection in the tea.

"…I guess…" The young goat man looked at her. "You want to…talk about it?"

"…I'd rather not," Frisk sighed. "Thanks for the offer, though." She looked up again. "What's new in the Underground?"

"Right," Asgore spoke, apparently happy to get a chance to tell about the changes. "When you disappeared, we had our scientist do research for an alternative way to leave the Underground, but the plan was discontinued."

"Why?" Frisk asked.

"We decided that, even if we would be able to leave, blending in with the Humans was going to be difficult. And…well…" he looked at his son. "We believe we would not be as happy up there as we are down here; this has truly become our home.

"Furthermore, relationships have been improved, research has been done and hope has been reappearing. When all that happened was when we realized: we loved this place, and would never trade it for anything!"

"Dad, you're rambling now," Asriel chuckled.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," the king apologized. "Anyway, to be more specific…

"The Royal Guard has disbanded, and Undyne has found a job as Dr. Alphys' lab assistant. It is also no longer allowed to harm Humans, instead having them brought to me without violence. Which is why I was confused to see you without any Monster aside from Asriel with you…?"

"Oh, that," Frisk sighed. "Well, I…I didn't really want to be _brought_. I…wanted to go on my own. Maybe get some more memories on the path, y'know…" she trailed off.

"Right…" Asgore said. "Well, either way, I am glad to see you here. I…hope you had a good reception?"

"You mean at the Ruins?"

"At the Ruins and beyond."

"Okay, well…yeah, actually. Though at the Waterfalls there were some…difficulties."

"What kind of difficulties?"

"Oh, just…some memories…" She thought back to what had happened at the statue and almost shivered. "Don't ask."

"Uh…okay."

"Asgore!" a female voice suddenly called. "Where are you?"

Frisk recognized that voice. It belonged to someone she had met earlier in the Underground; someone she hadn't known for that long, but knew well enough to remember her.

"Toriel?" she muttered.

Her voice was drowned out by Asgore's, as the king called back: "Dining room, Tori!"

Footsteps were heard for a few seconds before Toriel entered the room, looking at the trio sitting at the table. Seeing how Frisk looked calm and Asriel genuinely happy, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Mom!" Asriel greeted. "How are ya?"

"I am all right, Asriel, thank you," the goat woman politely answered. "How are you three?"

"We are getting reacquainted," Asgore beamed.

"That is good," Toriel smiled. She then walked up to the table and sat in the last seat available. "Do you mind then if I participate in the conversation?"


	8. Epilogue - Part of the family

_Epilogue – Part of the family _

Toriel was shocked to hear about Frisk's time on the Surface. Getting bullied was a serious matter, and while it eventually stopped, she knew it left its mark on the Human girl. She had mixed feelings about how Frisk actually solved the problem, though she couldn't help but praise her a little. She did feel sorry for Frisk not having many – if any – Human friends.

Frisk herself had smiled and shrugged it off, though the goat woman could sense that the smile was forced. In any case, the group had decided to change the subject until the Human let out a yawn and put her head on her arms, saying she just needed to rest it a bit and that she'd _absolutely not_ fall asleep.

Regardless, she fell asleep mere minutes after, after which Toriel and Asgore began cleaning up the table as Asriel carefully carried Frisk to what used to be Chara's bed all those years ago and placing her on it. He let out a sigh as he saw her lay there, and felt a sting in his side as he was reminded of his late sibling.

The sting only grew when he recalled how he fought Frisk and called her by the name of his long lost friend. He looked away when he felt the sting creep up to his eyes and left the room.

In the kitchen, Asgore stuck his head through the door and looked at Toriel, who had offered to help with doing the dishes. The king's presence didn't go unnoticed, as evidenced by Toriel turning her head to him as soon as he entered the room.

Asgore momentarily froze before smiling nervously. "Uh…hey, Tori. Been a while since you've been here, eh?"

Toriel looked back, a small, neutral smile on her face, as she continued her work. "Asgore. Yes, it has been a while," she admitted. "And now that I am here…" She trailed off.

She then fully turned around to him, her smile having made place for a stoic look. "But that is not what you wish to talk about, is it?"

Asgore froze again before letting his shoulders hang, a slight chuckle escaping his throat. "You can read me like a book, Tori."

The former queen didn't answer. She just gave him that questioning look, waiting for him to explain himself.

He looked up at her. "Do you know when Frisk last slept?"

Toriel blinked, wordlessly making her confusion clear about the question.

"The others said they had not seen her sleep for the entirety of the day," Asgore explained. "She was too determined to take a break from her journey. And you saw how quickly she fell asleep back there." He gestured to the dining area.

The goat woman raised an eyebrow. "Are you worried about her, Asgore?"

"Of course I am worried," the king calmly replied. "She must have been tired, but refused to rest. Does that not alarm you?"

That got Toriel thinking. The previous time Frisk was in the Underground, almost every Monster was after her blood…this did not stop her from sleeping from time to time however, even in potentially dangerous areas.

This time, she was completely safe, yet she chose to ignore her tiredness and went on to meet Asgore…

"I admit, it may seem a bit odd…" she hesitantly replied, "but there are several rational explanations possible for this. Maybe she ignored or did not notice her fatigue because she was eager to learn more about the Underground?" She shrugged. "Honestly, I would not know. Perhaps Frisk does not know, either."

"At least she is here," Asgore voiced. "Perhaps the rest she gains here will compensate for what she missed."

"I hope so…still, your observation is sharp and may hide more than meets the eye. If this turns out to be the case, I suggest we investigate the matter."

"Agreed."

"Hey, guys," Asriel drowsily said as he entered the kitchen. "Think I'm going to get some sleep myself. It's late and I'm tired."

"Of course, my son," Toriel smiled.

"As long as you do not wake Frisk," Asgore said.

The young goat man gave a tired nod before turning around and heading to his bedroom, thinking about how the future would go now that the Human was back.

* * *

 **And that's it for this story! I hope you enjoyed. Sorry for the short epilogue though, but there was little more I could add. Therefore, I decided to upload it immediately after chapter seven.**

 **Also…there may or may not be a poll on my page that may or may not be centered around a possible sequel…**

 **In any case, have a nice day/night!**

 **~F**

 **Update: for some reason, the poll won't show up on my profile page.**


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